By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes
- Rating
- 4(210)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Call this savory mix of wild rice, quinoa, mushrooms, walnuts and greens a stuffing or a pilaf. It’s not meant to go inside a turkey but it's imbued with the definitive flavors of Thanksgiving. Kale or chard add some color; if you’re trying to find a place for greens at the table but don’t want to deal with massive amounts to stem and cook for a crowd, this is a great place for them. The result is substantial, and will satisfy everybody at the table – vegetarians and vegans, and those who avoid gluten. If you're feeding omnivores and wish to add even more flavor, crumble browned Italian sausage into the pan alongside the grains and greens.
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Ingredients
Yield:10 servings
- 1ounce (about 1 cup) dried porcini mushrooms
- 1½cups wild rice
- Salt to taste
- ½cup quinoa
- ½pound kale or Swiss chard leaves, washed and coarsely chopped (you should have about 8 cups leaves; no need to chop if using bagged greens)
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for greasing baking dish
- 3 or 4shallots, finely chopped (about ¾ cup)
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1cup chopped celery
- 1pound fresh cremini or wild mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
- ½cup dry white wine
- 2teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- Black pepper, to taste
- ½cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ½cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 1tablespoon walnut oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
251 calories; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 358 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place dried porcinis in a bowl and cover with 2 quarts boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Line a strainer with cheesecloth, place over a bowl and drain the porcinis. Gather them up in the cheesecloth and squeeze hard to extract all the liquid. Rinse in two changes water, squeeze out excess water over the strainer, chop coarsely and set aside.
Step
2
Transfer mushroom broth to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add wild rice and salt to taste. When liquid returns to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer 35 minutes.
Step
3
Meanwhile, in a small dry skillet toast quinoa over medium until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. After rice has simmered for 35 minutes add toasted quinoa and continue to simmer another 12 minutes, until rice is tender and has begun to splay and the quinoa is just tender. Drain through a strainer set over a bowl and set aside. Reserve broth.
Step
4
Return rice and quinoa to pot, cover pot with a dish towel and place lid over towel. Let sit for at least 10 minutes while you proceed with next step. (Recipe can be made through this step up to 3 days ahead.)
Step
5
Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the greens in batches, stirring to wilt in the water left on their leaves after washing. Add a generous pinch of salt and continue to stir until all of the greens have wilted. This should only take a few minutes. Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water to cool. Take up handfuls of the greens and squeeze hard to get rid of excess water. Chop medium-fine and set aside. You should have 1 generous cup.
Step
6
Rinse and dry pan, and heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 3 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute, and add celery. Cook, stirring often, until celery begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes, and add fresh and rehydrated mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to sweat, about 3 minutes. Add white wine and cook, stirring, until wine has evaporated. Add salt to taste, thyme and sage, and continue to cook until mushrooms are tender and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add pepper, taste and adjust seasoning.
Step
7
Stir in cooked rice and quinoa, greens, parsley, walnuts and walnut oil. Stir together for a minute or two to blend well, and remove from heat.
Step
8
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 2½- to 3-quart baking dish. Transfer the pilaf to the baking dish and spread evenly. Moisten with ¼ to ½ cup preserved broth from grains, and cover with foil. Warm in the oven for 20 minutes before serving.
Tips
- To add sausage, dice or crumble 2 to 4 links (6 to 12 ounces, to taste) Italian chicken or pork sausage and brown in a skillet for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir into grains when you add them to the pan along with the other ingredients and proceed with the recipe.
- You can make this pilaf a day or two ahead and keep in the refrigerator. Do not moisten with the broth until just before warming in the oven.
Ratings
4
out of 5
210
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Cooking Notes
Amy
Reserve water used to hydrate mushrooms in step 1.
Vicki
This is a great recipe that satisfied vegetarians, vegans and omnivores at our table, and leftovers disappeared. The whole grains, porcini mushroom and kale is a satisfying and subtle flavor combination that worked well with all the stars of the Thanksgiving table. I added 3/4 cup dried cranberries and seasoned with 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice before serving.
Ellie H
Contrary to many of the reviewers, I found this to be a delicious, flavorful, hearty dish! I made several tweaks for easier cooking: subbed vegetable broth for the dried porcini broth, skipped Step 5 and wilted the kale in the pan with the mushrooms etc at the end of Step 6, and skipped the baking (Step 8) entirely. Also, because I was making this for a stand-alone lunch dish, I added chickpeas (2 cans, lightly toasted/sauteed separately, then stirred in with the grains etc in Step 7).
Paige
I wondered the same thing. I found this online: http://ancientharvest.com/how-to-properly-toast-quinoa/
WHK
A lot of effort for a bland dish. The consensus was that it tasted "earthy". Much better the next day after I added roasted butternut squash(2 squashes) and 6(?) tablespoons of agave.
wingin' it
I halved the recipe for two of us but added more shallot, garlic, celery. Had no kale and being Christmas nothing open so - oh well. Peeled and diced a honeycrisp apple because it seemed like it could use some tart/sweet. We think it's pretty delicious; find it strange so many others did not. Can easily see turning leftovers into a cream of something soup. Maybe add some chicken...
NelLea
Add roasted delicate squash and dried cranberries? Sub bulgar for quinoa?
Erin
Do not make this recipe. You’ll dirty every dish in the kitchen and end up with a large pan of bland grains, and that’s after generous seasoning. I agree with the other reviewer who said it tastes “earthy.” I could only eat this by mixing it with forkfuls of mashed potatoes on my Thanksgiving plate.
Sirena
Delicious!! Made as written with kale, however, upon assembly chose to leave out ~2 cups of the wild rice & quinoa mixture because preferred a higher ratio of other ingredients to the rice. And added 4 crumbled up Beyond Hot Italian sausage links per the tip.
hicountryho
Could I use chestnuts instead of walnuts?
Cassie
This was good, but imo way too much work. I skipped a couple steps and it was still pretty laborious. I didn't rinse the porcinis multiple times, and skipped the greens step and added them to the shallot/shroom/wine mix. Worked just fine. I'll pull flavor ideas from this recipe but stick with my standard method, which is 1) cook a boxed grain mix 2) saute aromatics, celery, carrot, mushroom, greens, etc in one pan 3) mix all together with add-ins (nuts, dried cran, cubed squash, etc).
Joanna
Made this (without the fresh mushrooms as I didn’t have them) to stuff maple glazed acorn squash rings as a last minute vegetarian option. Great hit with everyone, carnivores included! I added 2 beaten eggs to make sure the stuffing would stay inside the rings when served. Cooked the acorn squash rings for 20’ in the oven before adding the stuffing and then cooked for another 20’, 350 degrees.
Ellie H
Contrary to many of the reviewers, I found this to be a delicious, flavorful, hearty dish! I made several tweaks for easier cooking: subbed vegetable broth for the dried porcini broth, skipped Step 5 and wilted the kale in the pan with the mushrooms etc at the end of Step 6, and skipped the baking (Step 8) entirely. Also, because I was making this for a stand-alone lunch dish, I added chickpeas (2 cans, lightly toasted/sauteed separately, then stirred in with the grains etc in Step 7).
LL
I agree with other commenters and found the wild rice flavor to be bland, even with a lot of garlic, chicken stock, salt, etc. The rice flavor seemed to overpowered the otherwise delicious ingredients. I would definitely make again without the rice using quinoa, mushrooms and kale.
Lisa
I wish I'd read the reviews instead of just going by the 4-star rating. This was a labor-intensive recipe that resulted in a bland and tasteless dish.
Dee
A lot of trouble for a bland dish. Would have been better to just do the wild rice with garlic and mushrooms. Will not make again.
tundra
This didn't have a great deal of taste, although it was perked up with cranberries, and salt. I would like some other way to flavor it, don't like to use lots of salt. It made a great deal and we froze it, and take it out and eat it as a side from time to time.
Susan
This is basically a one-pot dish that has been transformed into about five pots, bowls and pans. Should have had a much simpler process. I had to do it myself.
Vicki
This is a great recipe that satisfied vegetarians, vegans and omnivores at our table, and leftovers disappeared. The whole grains, porcini mushroom and kale is a satisfying and subtle flavor combination that worked well with all the stars of the Thanksgiving table. I added 3/4 cup dried cranberries and seasoned with 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice before serving.
WHK
A lot of effort for a bland dish. The consensus was that it tasted "earthy". Much better the next day after I added roasted butternut squash(2 squashes) and 6(?) tablespoons of agave.
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