I love bitter greens, and unfortunately, bitter flavors have not been embraced by many because so many of us have been bombarded with sweet and salty flavors. Endive, radicchio, arugula, dandelion greens...they are such great blood builders! I decided to share a simple pesto recipe using fresh dandelion greens (which can easily be found at many grocers now), and pretty much plopped it on some earthy wild rice cooked with mushrooms I purchased from my local farmer's market. My only suggestion with this recipe is that you use true wild rice (manoomin) grown and gathered from ancestral lakes. Not wild rice grown in California, which seems to me to be more like wild rice on vacation.
At the bottom of this recipe, I have shared a link to one of the many places you can purchase true wild rice, hand-harvested by Native Peoples in the traditional way, grown in ancestral lakes.
True Wild Rice
1 T. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 C. *wild rice
3 oz. oyster mushrooms, or mushrooms of your choice
3 C. water
Dandelion Pesto
1 small bunch dandelion greens, trimmed
1 oz. fresh basil
1/4 C. pine nuts
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
sea salt
In a medium/large saucepan, heat olive oil until warm, add minced shallots (which always make my eyes tear up) and stir for one minute. Add mushrooms and wild rice, stir for one minute. Add water, allow to come to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Cook until all of the water is absorbed, about 40 - 45 minutes. Rice should be tender, yet firm.
While the rice is cooking, start the pesto. Using a food processor, add all of the pesto ingredients to the machine, then pulse until well combined. Taste for seasoning. Add sea salt to taste.
Serve a dollop of pesto with each serving of cooked wild rice, or combine the pesto with the wild rice and serve family style.
*You can purchase Native American hand-harvested wild rice from the White Earth Nation here.
As always, thank you Barbara for letting me cook in your sunlit kitchen.