The Heirloom Pan: Wild Rice Burgers

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Wild Rice Burgers

I've been on a wild rice kick here lately. I picked some up at my local Trader Joe's a while back and it's mostly been sitting in the cupboard keeping company with the bulk Indian spices. This weekend, I decided to change that and went to the web for some inspiration. My initial search for wild rice recipes retrieved several rice pilaf and rice salad recipes. That wasn't what I was looking for at all. I actually wanted something unique and totally out of the box. I eventually googled wild rice burgers and landed on one of my favorite food blogs, theKitchn. Voila!

One look at their recipe for wild rice burgers and I was sold. I had most of the ingredients on hand and it seemed like the perfect thing to make in bulk for the upcoming week. I doubled the recipe and used the ingredients I had on hand, substituting red bell peppers for celery and combining a mixture of regular Italian-style breadcrumbs (1/4 cup) with Seasoned Panko breadcrumbs (3/4 cup). After cooking the patty, I topped it with low-fat provolone cheese, spinach, broccoli and clover sprouts, avocado slices, and Duke's mayo. The final result was substantial and packed with flavor. I was very impressed by the fact that it didn't fall apart (like many of the flimsy veggie burgers I've had). Finally, a vegetarian burger worth writing home about.

Get the recipe here: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-wild-rice-burgers-157678

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More about me...

I grew up in the rolling hills of North Mississippi with four large garden plots directly adjacent to my home. I spent my summers sowing fields, eating fresh, homegrown produce, and steering clear of indigenous reptiles.

My first food memory is shelling purple hull peas with purple-stained fingers at our kitchen table, and most of the early part of my life revolved around food. As a family, we farmed the land. We hunted the woods. We fished the lakes. We raised our own pigs. We foraged the native foods that grew wild around us (such as blackberries, plums, muscadines, and poke salad). Quite naturally, we also did a lot of cooking. So, it's no surprise that I take the Virginia Wolfe approach to life: "one cannot think well, love well, sleep well unless one has dined well."

At age 23, I became pesceterian. Some people tell me, I've lost my southern roots. I find that absurdity pretty funny. I find solace in my buttery, delicious cornbread muffins. As I strive to live healthier and continue to expand my culinary repertoire, I build on the history and traditions that have brought me and sustained me thus far.