Friday, January 25, 2008

Feeling a little nutty?


The other day I was perusing Mollie Katzen's website and found a number of recipes that I would like to try. One in particular caught my eye because the flavors sounded just wonderful to me. It was "Wild Rice with Cherries and Hazelnuts."

In my pantry, I am storing a wide variety of all kinds of nuts. I have found that a handful of nuts and dried fruit really satisfy me between meals. This was the first opportunity I've had to use the hazelnuts and dried cherries in a recipe together. According to the Hazelnut Council (which in my mind are just ten squirrels sitting in a board room), hazelnuts are a rich source of dietary fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, and heart healthy B vitamins. They are also rich in antioxidants and disease fighting nutrients.

I didn't feel like waiting the 45 minutes to cook rice according to Mollie's recipe, so I took out my leftover cooked bulgur from the fridge. You can find the recipe for basic cooked bulgur in my post about a Mediterranean dinner.

I had about one cup's worth of cooked bulgur left. So, I took a 2/3 cup of fresh unsalted hazelnuts and placed them in a ziplock bag and smashed them with a rolling pin. That was really fun. I scared my dog, though. Sorry Sami. Then I took about 1/2 cup of dried cherries and roughly chopped them. I added both the chopped hazenuts and cherries to the bulgur and added approximately 2 T of natural maple syrup (Whole Foods brand). I mixed it all together with a pinch of kosher salt and heated it up in the microwave for 45 seconds. The aroma of warm hazelnuts immediately hit me as I sat down at the table for lunch. I love it when a meal engages so many senses. I wasn't prepared for how fragrant this would be so that was a happy surprise.

I can't even begin to describe how delicious this easy, fast and nutrient packed dish was. My mouth was making, how should I put it - yum yum noises.

Aren't I the articulate one?

Mollie's original recipe can be found at: http://www.molliekatzen.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipe=wild_rice_cherries

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a few of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks and always find something great to try in them. This recipe does sound very yum yum!!

Cakespy said...

Thanks for the great recipe--gotta love that Mollie.

Elena C said...

Thanks for writting this