Vegetable and Wild Rice "Biryani"

This is another one of those recipes that I post, where I am looking to recreate the general taste of something because that is what my palate is craving, but am not making an original or culturally authentic recipe. I do like to make that point.

One of my good friends recently visited from Minneapolis and brought me a package of the local wild rice. I am used to the spiky, black grains that we usually see, this was light brown and, once cooked, much more tender and similar to brown rice than the version I had been used to seeing up until now. Delicious.

This makes two servings of the vegetable and wild rice "Biryani". I ate the first as illustrated above, and then pureed the remaining veggies and rice with some chicken stock and made a hearty and spicy soup for lunch the next day.

For the vegetables:

3 cups assorted vegetables (I used a mixture of sliced Delicata squash, red onion, Maitake mushroom, and baby spinach, but use whatever you have on hand.)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 Jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

2 tsps grated ginger

1/2 tsp. coriander powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp. Kashmiri chili powder

1/4 tsp tsp. fennel seeds

generous pinch ground cinnamon

generous pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425.

Whisk the olive oil, tomato paste, aromatics and spices together in a small bowl until well combined.

Place all of the vegetables except for the spinach on a foil or parchment paper lined baking tray.

Pour over the spiced olive oil mixture and toss to combine. Bake for 2o-25 minutes until everything is cooked through and starting to caramelize around the edges.

Remove from the oven and toss in the baby spinach. The heat from the root vegetables will cause the leaves to wilt.

For the rice:

1/2 cup wild or brown rice

1 1/4 cups water or chicken stock

1 cardamom pod, lightly crushed

1 whole clove

1 small bay leaf

Generous pinch of ground turmeric

Generous pinch of salt

I actually made this in the rice cooker. Just measure everything in, stir to combine and let it cook as per the rice cooker's instructions.

When done, fluff it up with a fork or a rice paddle and then allow it to steam until the vegetables are done. Remove the whole spices as you come across them.

I served this with a spoonful of coriander chutney on the side, but a dollop of plain yogurt would taste good as well, as would a squeeze of lemon juice.