Wild Rice

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Minnesota. The lakes, the rivers, the trees, the hiking, the canoeing, the Twin Cities. The list goes on.

I also love trivia: state tree, norway pine; state pickle, dill; state flower, ladyslipper. I could go on all day. But one of Minnesota's best is also a macrobiotic treasure, and Minnesota is one of the only places you can get it in its natural form.

I'm talking about Wild Rice, Minnesota's state grain. Boo ya ka shaw.

Wild rice was the staple in the diet of the Chippewa and Sioux Indians, native to the north central area of America. Like brown rice, the grain is actually the seed of an aquatic grass plant. Since wild rice grows in cold water and cold climate areas, its seeds (wild rice) need to store enormous amounts of energy to germinate in the spring. Because of this need, wild rice is high in protein, the amino acid lysine and dietary fiber, and low in fat.

Lucky me, growing up and living in Minnesota for most of my life, I have had the opportunity to harvest and roast my own rice on several occasions. I feel a all of the harvesting work behind every bite I take, I remember the clear days in the canoe, the click of the harvesting sticks, the itch of the seed husks on my skin and the splash of the guide pole in the water. If only all the food I ate had as much positive energy behind each bite...

While some commercial wild rice is grown, its best and tastiest form is still hand harvested, mostly in Minnesota's lakes and rivers in the traditional method.