Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Almonds, Pomegranate and Feta in a Lemony Tahini Dressing

After all of the football snacking in January it was time for some healthier dishes starting with this roasted cauliflower and chickpea quinoa and arugula salad/grain bowl. I start this salad out with a base of quinoa and arugula and I build it up with some meaty roasted cauliflower and chickpeas. From there I add some toasted almond slivers for crunch, pomegranate for both the colour and the juicy bursts of sweetness and some salty feta before finishing it off with plenty of fresh herbs like parsley and mint. Continuing with the Mediterranean theme I went with a simple lemony tahini based dressing and despite it simply consisting of tahini, lemon juice and salt it is so amazingly good! One of the things that I like most about this salad, other than the fact that it tastes amazing, is all of the vibrant colours from the black quinoa to the green arugula to the white cauliflower and finally the red pomegranate and I also thoroughly enjoy all of the contrasting textures. If you are looking for a healthy light meal (or a side dish) you just cannot go wrong with this tasty roasted cauliflower and chickpea quinoa and arugula salad/grain bowl!

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Roasted Pumpkin and Green Bean Quinoa Salad in Thai Peanut Dressing

It's time for another pumpkin recipe and this time we've got a roasted pumpkin and green bean quinoa salad in a tasty Thai peanut dressing. Quinoa makes for both a nice addition to a salad and a great base for salads and if you are using it as a base for a salad all you really need to do is add some veggies, like pumpkin, along with a dressing and you're done! In addition to the pumpkin I added green beans (which I blanched rather than roasted to retain their bright green colour and crispy crunch) and red peppers along with some green onions and cilantro. The pumpkin and Thai peanut sauce combo is a fabulous one, and the inspiration for this salad, so a dressing based on it was a must! Although it's not required, I like to serve this salad on a bed of baby spinach, just to get some more veggie goodness!

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Quinoa White Chicken Chili

It is definitely the season for soups and stews and you really can't go wrong with a tasty, warming bowl of chili! In it's more typical form chili con carne is made with beef and plenty of red chili peppers but it is always fun to make a white chili where the meat is chicken and no red chili peppers are used. This is my go to quick, easy and tasty white chicken chili recipe and it has a base of chicken and white beans with jalapeno chili peppers for the heat along with a few seasoning like garlic, cumin and oregano. I like to kick the flavour up a bit by replacing some of the broth with a salsa verde and the addition of quinoa makes this soup a bit heartier. As a finishing touch I like to hit the soup with fresh lime juice along with some cilantro. One of the best things about this tasty white chicken chili is that it only takes about 30 minutes to make and if you know that you aren't even going to have that much time for dinner then you can throw everything into the slow cooker in the morning and come home to a fully cooked meal!

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Roasted Green Bean Red Pepper Quinoa Salad

Just because the weather is cooling doesn't mean that salads are off the menu, especially when they are like this tasty, hearty and healthy quinoa salad with roasted green beans and red peppers! I always enjoy making salads like this and they are super easy to make! I usually like to start with a rice, whole grain or quinoa and then I add some in season vegetables like green beans and red peppers followed optionally with a bean, some cheese, nuts and a dressing and in no like you have tasty salad that eats like a meal! When it comes to the vegetables, I often like to roast them as roasting helps bring out more of their flavour and in this case both green beans and red peppers are particularly nice when roasted. This roasted green bean and red pepper quinoa salad is definitely a great way to enjoy salads this fall!

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Esquites Quinoa Salad with Avocado

One of the best ways to enjoy corn is right from the cob and one of my favourite ways to do that is Mexican style, aka elote, where the corn is covered in butter, mayo, cotija cheese, a squirt of lime and a touch of chili pepper. Of course you can easily cut the corn from the cob and if you do that with elote you get esquites, a Mexican style corn salad which I also like a lot! Quinoa is often on my mind and I could not help think that adding some would only make things better both by adding an amazing texture and by adding a healthy source source of protein! I often enjoy the addition of avocado to my esquites and so I could not leave it out of this quinoa salad! I have to say that the combination of sweet corn, creamy avocado and quinoa is quite amazing and it makes for a great side dish or even a light meal!

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Strawberry BBQ Chicken Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Bacon, Avocado and Goat Cheese

After making the strawberry BBQ chicken club sandwiches with bacon, avocado and goat cheese I still had plenty of the roasted strawberry BBQ sauce leftover and I knew just what I wanted to make with it, a strawberry BBQ quinoa salad. I have been wanting to try making a BBQ chicken quinoa salad with black beans and corn for a while now but a strawberry BBQ quinoa salad suddenly sounded like a much better idea! I used a lot of the same flavours as in the strawberry BBQ chicken sandwich in this quinoa salad including the avocado, bacon and goat cheese since they worked so amazingly well together. I filled the quinoa salad out with baby spinach along with some green onions and cilantro. If you have the cooked chicken on hand, this salad is as easy to make as cooking the quinoa and throwing everything together and despite that it is so fantastically good!

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Roasted Cauliflower and Mushroom Quinoa Salad in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Two of my recent food obsessions have been quinoa and cauliflower and it was past time for me to use them both in a dish together! Another thing that I have been enjoying lately is whole grain salads where the recipes follows some basic guidelines including starting off with quinoa or a whole grain like farro, a vegetable or two, possibly some beans and/or nuts, a cheese and a dressing. As soon as I had the idea of using quinoa and cauliflower together one of these salads sounded like a great way to go! Of course I had to go with roasted cauliflower since it is so addictively good and I figured that I might as well roast some mushrooms up at the same time. For this salad I decided to omit any beans but I did throw in some walnuts and a balsamic vinaigrette. Which cheese to use was the only real question as there a few good options including feta, blue cheese and the one that I chose, a creamy goat cheese. Goat cheese is a particularly nice option for salad like this because if you add it to the salad while the ingredients are still warm, it starts to melt into the salad spreading it's goodness throughout. This salad goes well either warm or cool and it makes for a nice side or even a light meal. If you want to bulk it up a bit for a meal you can add some chickpeas and serve it on a bed of greens such as kale, spinach or lettuce. I have to say that the roast cauliflower, mushroom and quinoa combo was a nice and tasty one and healthy to boot!

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Chipotle Roast Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

After all of that rich St Patrick's Day fare I was looking for something on the lighter side which was perfect timing since this roasted sweet potato and black bean quinoa salad had been on my mind for a while. There is just something about the sweet potato, creamy black bean and smoky and spicy chipotle chili flavour combo that keeps me coming back for more and this quinoa salad is a great way to enjoy it! In addition to being super tasty, this salad is really easy to make and it only takes as much time to throw together as it takes to roast the sweet potato es!

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Pumpkin Pie Quinoa Parfait with Gingersnap Pecan Streusel

I had some leftover pumpkin puree that I wanted to use and after the apple crumble quinoa parfaits earlier in the week, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it; pumpkin pie quinoa parfaits! The idea was simple, mix some pumpkin pie spices and brown sugar into the pumpkin puree and layer it with Greek vanilla yogurt and quinoa spiced with cinnamon. At this point everything sounds nice and healthy but I could not resist topping it off with a gingersnap pecan streusel since gingersnaps and pecans go so well with pumpkin pie! Now i am looking forward to quick, tasty and fairly healthy desserts for breakfast from the leftovers for the next few days!

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Apple Crumble Quinoa Parfait

I have been a fan of quinoa ever since I discovered it and I am always looking for new ways to enjoy it. I recently came across the idea of using it in an apple and quinoa parfait with a crumble topping on Epicureean Mom that sounded so good that I had to try it! I have used quinoa in parfaits before so I knew that it worked well in them and that this apple crumble one would be a winner! This parfait layers vanilla yogurt with cinnamon spiced quinoa and a simple apple compote and it is topped with a rolled oat crumble! Not only is this parfait easy to make but it is also pretty healthy and makes for a great breakfast! If you have any leftovers, simply throw the components into separate containers and refrigerate them all except the crumble topping and the next day you can use them to throw another parfait together in a few minutes.

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Thai Style Black Quinoa Salad

Normally when I go to pick up quinoa they only have the white and red varieties but I recently came across black quinoa which I immediately picked up and I have been just itching to use it ever since. After thinking about it for a while I decided that the black quinoa would go well in a bright Thai inspired salad where it would nicely offset all of the colours. Sweet and juicy yellow mangoes seemed like a great place to start with the colours in the salad quickly followed by some red bell peppers and then some green onions, fresh mint and cilantro. One of the things that I like about Asian and Thai cuisines is that they often balance the sweet, salty, tart and spicy aspects of a dish with wonderful results so I tried to do that here making the dressing with salty fish sauce, sweet sugar, tart lime juice and spicy sriracha along whit a birds eye chili for heat. I finished the salad off with some chopped peanuts and some toasted coconut flakes.

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard Quinoa Bibimbap

Last week I came across an article on the New York Times about using quinoa in bibimbap which was an interesting coincidence since I had recently tried the same thing. Bibimbap is a Korean dish that consists of various vegetables and meats served in a bowl over rice with a spicy chili sauce. I have been enjoying exploring new uses for quinoa and it makes a great substitute for rice so I thought that a quinoa bibimbap would be a nice idea. Normally bibimbap has a meat in it but this time I was thinking about a vegetarian version with winter vegetables starting with butternut squash that I tossed in gochugaru, Korean style chili pepper flakes, and roasted until nice and tender. I often like to include spinach in bibimabap but I was thinking that swiss chard would be a nice substitution this time. I then build up the bibimbap with some sauteed shiitake mushrooms, grated cucumber and carrots. I have done a lot of warm quinoa salads recently and I have been enjoying the combination of the beans in those salads so I tried adding some black beans to this bibimbap before finishing it off with a fried egg and some spicy gochujang sauce. Quinoa once again proved how versatile it is working amazingly well as a substitute for rice in this bibimbap where its texture played particularly well with the other ingredients making for one really tasty and healthy meal.

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Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

When I made the quinoa cakes with roasted red pepper and walnut pesto, goat cheese and a poached egg it reminded me that I had not done much with quinoa lately and that got me thinking about all of the things that I want to try using quinoa in. A quinoa tabbouleh was pretty high on my list of quinoa dishes to try and it would fit in nicely with a few other recipes as well so I started with that. Tabbouleh is normally made with bulgar but I figured that the texture of quinoa would work well in it. In addition to the bulgar a tabbouleh salads normally consist of tomatoes, cucumbers, parsly and mint and it is dressed up in lemon juice and olive oil. I kept things pretty straight forward with this tabbouleh salad other than swapping the bulgar out for the quinoa and it turned out really well! There is nothing like a light salad filled with fresh herbs and a hit of lemon to push back the gloom of winter!

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Roasted Mushroom and Green Bean Farro Salad

With January here I have been trying to eat healthier and when I am doing that I often think about salads, whole grain salads in particular. The combination of green beans and mushrooms are a favourite of mine whether I am simply sauteing them as a side dish or doing something more with them like making a casserole and I have had the idea to use them in a whole grain salad for a while now. Normally I would start a salad like this by sauteing the mushrooms and green beans but this time I thought that I would try something a little different and roast them both in the oven. Roasting vegetables seems to concentrate their flavours and make them even tastier and I was thinking that that would be the perfect way to go for this salad. With the vegetables decided the next component is the whole grain and there are a lot of choices that would work in this salad but I decided to go with farro. Farro is a really nice whole grain and I enjoy its earthy nuttiness and the chewy texture. For the dressing I went with a flavour packed homemade balsamic vinaigrette and I finished the salad off with a bit of feta though goat cheese or a mild blue cheese would also be wonderful.

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Mexican Quinoa

It has been a while since I last posted about a side dish! Although they are not the stars of the dinner table they play an important role and sometimes they are even my favourite part of a meal. With my new found passion for quinoa I have been trying to use it more often and that is not hard to do. An easy way to use it is to simply replace the rice in a dish with quinoa and it is with this in my that I undertook making Mexican quinoa.

Mexican rice, or Spanish rice, is a rice side dish that is generally cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and a bit of chili pepper heat. In addition to being really easy to make, Mexican rice is packed with flavour and it is always a welcome addition to any meal. One of the nice things about Mexican rice is that it is easy to play around with the recipe and change things up by adding other ingredients like diced bell peppers or even corn or peas. The tomato component is really flexible and I often make Mexican rice to finish off cans of tomato products that were only partially used in other dishes. Canned whole tomatoes work just as well as diced or pureed and fresh ripe tomatoes that are diced are also wonderful.

I figured that Mexican rice would go great with the rice replaced by quinoa and I was not wrong! My favourite part of quinoa has to be the texture and those soft, tiny, chewy pearls work amazingly well in Mexican rice! Now I have another way to make "Mexican rice" and I have a feeling that I will be using it often!

Mexican Quinoa

A take on the classic "Mexican" rice with quinoa. This tasty quinoa dish makes the perfect side for your favourite Mexican or Texmex meal.

Servings: makes 4 side dish sized servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon corn oil
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup diced tomato or 1/4 cup tomato puree
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, cumin and chili powder and saute until fragrant about a minute.
4. Add the quinoa, broth, tomato, oregano, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the the quinoa is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
7. Serve garnished with cilantro.

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Mexican Rice
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Asparagus, Halloumi and Chickpea Farro Salad

Not too long ago I did a grilled asparagus and halloumi salad and I particularly enjoyed the combo and I wanted to use it again. I often like to do salads that have a base of a whole grain, a bean and a seasonal ingredient and this time I was thinking that a whole grain salad with the grilled asparagus and halloumi would be the perfect fit. It had been a while since I last used farro so I decided to go with that for the whole grain and chickpeas seemed like the natural fit. I always like to include a fresh herb and I was thinking that a combination of dill and mint would hit the spot. Next up was the dressing and I was thinking that a honey dijon vinaigrette would help keep things nice and bright and summery.

Asparagus, Halloumi and Chickpea Farro Salad

A summery whole grain salad with asparagus, grilled halloumi, chickpeas, a bunch of fresh herbs and a lemony vinaigrette.

Servings: makes 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup farro
• 4 ounces halloumi, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 pound asparagus, blanched and cut into small pieces
• 1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 handful dill, chopped
• 1 handful mint, chopped
• 1/4 cup honey dijon vinaigrette

Directions

1. Cook the farro as directed on the package.
2. Brush the grill (or grill pan) with oil and heat to medium-high heat.
3. Grill the halloumi cheese until golden brown on both sides, about 2-4 minutes per side, let cool and dice.
4. Mix everything and enjoy.

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Grilled Asparagus and Halloumi Salad
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Warm Mushroom, Roasted Asparagus and Wild Rice Salad with Feta

New things are quickly starting to show up at the farmers market these days which I took as a subtle reminder that I should get my asparagus fix on sooner rather than later! With that in mind I realized that it was time to finish the recipe that had been on my mind for the last few weeks for a warm asparagus and mushroom salad. I wanted to combine two of my favorite foods, asparagus and mushrooms in salad that was served warm over salad greens. I often like to include whole grains in my salads and I was pretty determined to use wild rice but I was unsure as to where to go from there. My uncertainty was solved the other day when I used the dill in the cod wrapped in crispy potatoes with a dill and caper sauce which reminded me of how much I enjoy the mushroom and dill flavour combo and everything else kind of fell into place. I finished the salad off with a balsamic vinaigrette and some crumbled feta, though I had also been contemplating using either goat cheese or blue cheese. For method of cooking I went with my favourites and roasted the asparagus to bring out its full flavour and sauteed the mushrooms until they started to caramelize. In the end, I was quite pleased with the results! The flavours all went wonderfully together and I particularly liked the way the warm asparagus and mushrooms worked with your more ordinary cool salad greens.

Warm Mushroom, Roasted Asparagus and Wild Rice Salad with Feta

A warm sauteed mushroom, roasted asparagus and wild rice salad in a balsamic vinaigrette with crumbled feta.

Servings: makes 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1 1/4 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 handful dill, chopped
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
• 4 cups salad greens
• 1/4 cup feta or goat cheese or blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Bring the wild wild rice and broth to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered, until the rice is tender, about 50 minutes.
2. About 30 minutes in, heat the oil in a pan.
3. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
5. Add the mushrooms and saute until just caramelized, about 10-15 minutes, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Meanwhile, toss the asparagus in the oil along with some salt and pepper.
7. Spread the asparagus out in a single layer on a baking dish and roast in a preheated 400F oven until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
8. Mix the wild rice, mushrooms, asparagus, dill and balsamic vinaigrette.
9. Serve with the mushrooms and wild rice on a bed of salad greens, topped with roasted asparagus and garnished with crumbled feta.

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White Bean and Spinach Quinoa Salad with Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Blue Cheese in a Bacon Pan Sauce Dressing

Yeah! Blogger is back! Hopefully it does not gobble up any more posts or comments!

Although I am still impatiently awaiting the arrival of the first of the local spring produce I have started getting into the habit of eating lighter meals including more salads. Not too long ago I came across the idea of a warm white bean and spinach salad on How Sweet It Is that I was immediately drawn to. As I read through the ingredients I quickly realized why, as the spinach, bacon, sauteed mushrooms and onions reminded me of one of my favourite salads the spinach salad with bacon, caramelized onions, mushrooms and blue cheese. I quite enjoy combining quinoa and beans in warm salads and I figured that adding them to the spinach salad could only be good and so I did just that. For the recipe, I pretty much just started out with my spinach salad with bacon, caramelized onions, mushrooms and blue cheese salad and added the spinach to the pan to wilt followed by some white beans and quinoa.

Don't let the spinach, beans, mushrooms and quinoa fool you as below this salads healthy surface lies a dirty little secret and that secret is a heart full of flavour, and that flavour is provided by both the bacon and its grease. First I cook the bacon and set it and some of its grease aside. The mushrooms and onions are then slowly cooked in the remaining bacon grease until they are nice and golden brown. After cooking the bacon and caramelizing the mushrooms and onions in the same pan, its bottom is sure to be covered little brown bits that are just full of flavour! It would simply be wrong to let that flavour go to waste so I mix the salad dressing right in the pan and the vinegar in it helps pick up all of that flavour by deglazing the pan. The remaining ingredients of the salad dressing include the reserved bacon grease and some Dijon mustard. The final component of flavour in this salad is a touch of crumbled blue cheese that starts to melt into the salad which is served warm. You don't want to overpower the other flavours in the salad by using a lot of blue cheese but just a bit really enhances the salad and makes it truly special. With this salad you get the best of both worlds with lots of healthy ingreadients and lots of flavour!

White Bean and Spinach Quinoa Salad with Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Blue Cheese in a Bacon Pan Sauce Dressing

A nice, sweet and innocent looking white bean and spinach quinoa salad hiding a dark underside of bacon, onions and mushrooms caramelized in bacon grease and a bacon grease dressing. Naughty and nice never tasted so good!

Servings: makes 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup red onion, sliced
• 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small clove garlic, grated
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (6 ounce) package baby spinach
• 1 (19 ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup mild blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa as directed on the package.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a pan, about 4-6 minutes, and set aside, reserving 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.
3. Caramelize the onions and mushrooms in the remaining bacon grease, about 20-30 minutes, and set aside.
4. Add the vinegar to the pan and deglaze it.
5. Mix in the reserved bacon grease, sugar, mustard, garlic and season with salt and pepper.
6. Add the spinach and white beans and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2-3 minutes and remove from heat.
7. Mix in the bacon, onions and mushrooms.
8. Serve garnished with blue cheese.

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Quinoa Porridge with Blueberries and Pecans

I discovered quinoa shortly after I started food blogging and I have been hooked ever since. Not only is quinoa good for you but I really enjoy its texture so I keep coming back for more. At first I was using it primarily in salads and then I started using it in soups and stews and then I discovered that it could be used in sweet dishes such as porridge and that just blew my mind! I tried a quinoa porridge right away and it was good! Since then it has been one of my staple breakfasts for the colder days of the year. Even though the days are finally staring to warm up, I came across some blueberries in the grocery store and I knew that I would be doing at least one more quinoa porridge before it got too warm. One of my favourite porridge flavour combinations is blueberries, maple and pecans and it goes great in porridges so I did just that a blueberry quinoa porridge sweetened with maple syrup and topped with some toasted pecans.

Quinoa Porridge with Blueberries and Pecans

Quinoa served as a breakfast porridge with blueberries, pecans and a touch of maple syrup.

Servings: make 1 serving

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 dash cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1 tablespoon peacans, toasted and coarsley chopped

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered until tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Mix in the blueberries, add more mil to taste and top with the pecans.

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Mushroom and Leek Wild Rice Salad

The other day when I was going through my pantry I came across some wild rice and I realized that it had been a while since I had done anything with wild rice. Thinking that, I just had to do something with it and I was thinking about a whole grain style salad. Although I had a few ideas, the one that I kept coming back to was a mushroom and wild rice salad that would also indulge my obsession with mushrooms. My normal starting place for mushrooms is to saute some onions, add garlic, then the mushrooms followed by a herb. Leeks had been on my mind recently and I wanted to change things up a bit so I replaced the onion with leeks and I figured that the green that the leeks brought would lighten the dish up a bit. For the herb I went with thyme which goes really well with the earthiness of the mushrooms. I often like to add nuts to a salad like this and I was going to go with walnuts but when I was at the store I noticed some chestnuts which would add a nice sweetness to the dish. The final component was a dressing and a balsamic vinaigrette was at the top of my list. I served the mushroom and leek wild rice salad on a bed of arugula and formed the salad using ramekins.

Mushroom and Leek Wild Rice Salad

(makes 4 servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup wild rice
2 cups vegetable broth (or chicken)
1 tablespoon oil
3 leeks (cleaned and sliced)
2 cloves garlic
8 ounces mushrooms (sliced) - I used a mix of cremini, shiitake and oyster
1 teaspoon thyme (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup roasted chestnuts (coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:
1. Simmer the wild rice in the broth on medium-low heat, covered, until it is tender and it has absorbed all of the broth, about 40-50 minutes and remove from heat.
2. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a pan.
3. Add the leeks and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
5. Add the mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms are just starting to caramelize, about 10-14 minutes.
6. Mix the wild rice, mushrooms, chestnuts and balsamic viniagrette.

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Take a look at the No Croutons Required grains round up on Lisa's Kitchen.