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.

Vegetable Variety

One of the things about the Macro diet that I am having a hard time adjusting to is finding balance in the vegetables that we eat. I still have the mindset that if it's a vegetable it's good for you and you basically can't get enough of it.

Knowing now that different vegetables have different alkalinity and acidity, yin and yang properties and nutritional properties, I am confused (on a good day) and outright frustrated (on a bad day). Right now we're just playing it safe with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. We also eat onions, leeks and beets. But compared to the cornucopia of vegetables that I am accustomed to eating, it doesn't seem like much.

I'm enjoying the vegetables that we eat— I am just afraid they may become old hat.

If anyone has macro suggestions about how to diversify vegetables in our diet, please share. I am very interested in how other macros approach this part of their diet.

The grains continue to be a delight. I actually find myself daydreaming about them, thinking about how my body is balancing and leeching out the nasties I've put it in for so long. I know that sounds kind of wonky, but it's true. Just thinking about rice makes me smile. True love?