Wild Rice & Vegetable Stuffing

This versatile stuffing can be used on its own to fill a whole fish or rolled fillet. Better yet, add some small shrimp or scallops to the mix to kick up your main course. One of my favorite uses for this is to cut a pocket in a fillet of Lake Whitefish, fill it with stuffing and cook it on a cedar plank on the grill. It works with well with most other fish too.

Ingredients

Rice:

  • 1 cup wild rice and basmati rice combo or any wild  rice combo

  • 2 1/4 cups water

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

Stuffing:

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped

  • 1 cup sweet onion, finely chopped

  • 1 cup carrot, finely chopped

  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt

  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 - 14.5 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and crushed by hand

  • 1/2 cup sauvignon blanc wine

  • 1 tablespoon dry dill

  • 1 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce

  • 2 teaspoons herbed sea salt(available @ Dirk's)

Directions

Rice:

  • Put all ingredients in pot with tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil without lid. Reduce heat to low, put lid on to cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stuffing:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While rice cooks, saute vegetables in EVOO about 5 minutes medium high temperature. Add salt, pepper, tomatoes, and wine. Bring the temperature up to high to reduce and thicken liquid, about 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, add dill and sriracha. Combine veggies with rice mixture. If you want to add shrimp or scallops, simply season with salt and pepper then saute for 3 to 5 minutes until just done. Add to the stuffing. I prefer to use both smaller shrimp and scallops for stuffing. Small ones cook more quickly and there are more pieces to go around.

  • This recipe will stuff a large whole fish or about 5 pounds of fillets. You can also freeze any extra for another time. Enjoy!

Dirk FucikSide Dishes