so I was just wondering what all you paleo dieters out there thought about wild rice. I eat a paleo diet for the most part, but was thinking of getting my hands on some wild rice(since I live in MI). Does that count as a grain that is horrid for my body 'n teeth? I mean the ojibwe ate a whole shit ton of wild rice. please gimme yer thoughts. peace.
I say, if it’s wild, and it’s edible, eat it. 
(But I’ve never been a paleo-dieter (yet))
wild rice isn’t actually a rice… I hear it’s quite good for you,
it’s kinda expensive tho, I’d go for it.
In the upper MW wild rice is often given as a gift. My parents have some good friends who harvest wild rice from the lake and eat it/give some of it away. Mom and Dad usually get about 5 pounds a year. It’s GOOD. And Fenris is right, it’s very good for you. I had no idea it wasn’t technically a rice. Is it a seed?
My mom has an (admittedly non-paleo) recipe for wild rice pancakes (fantastic with maple syrup). Also a casserole (oops, I mean “hotdish”) that incorporates cream of mushroom soup and almonds. It’s also good as a pilaf with cranberries and nuts.
My girlfriend was just telling me about this. It’s a seed from a wetland grass, I think.
For about five years now I have been harvesting wild rice on a few different Northwestern Wisconsin lakes. I really enjoy doing it. And for about the past month I’ve been eating that wild rice for breakfast every morning. I put maple syrup, walnut oil and walnuts on it. Mmmmm…It’s tasty.
I also want to mention Winona LaDuke’s work on the difference between pond cultivated wild rice and lake harvested wild rice. This is a big issue around these parts.
http://www.futurenet.org/article.asp?ID=348
In 1968, with the help of the University of Minnesota, aggressive production of paddy wild rice production began. That year it represented some 20 percent of the state's harvest. By 1973, paddy rice production had increased the state's yield from less than a million pounds to some 4 million pounds. The increase in production and subsequent interest by the larger corporations such as Uncle Ben's, Green Giant, and General Foods, skewed consumers' perceptions and altered the market for traditional wild rice.
And to honor the teachers that taught me how to rice I’m going to post a link to one of the radio stories they put together and photographs they took during ricing season here in Wisconsin.
http://www.superiorbroadcast.org/WildRice.htm
I say eat lots of wild rice!
Take care,
Curt
Thanks for those links Curt. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of the harvesting and processing. There was a large lake where I used to live in Idaho with a lot of wild rice. A commercial outfit that had the rights to harvest it. They used those motorized airboats to do it. Other people were allowed to harvest for personal use, but this one company had the exclusive rights to sell it.
In the spring the whole rice area would be full of swans. Sometimes there would be hundreds and hundreds of swans. It was beautiful.
wild rice is fantastic stuff. you can cook it with just about anything, and eat it for any meal. a bowl of wild rice with maple syrup and walnuts is one of my favorites as well. the voyoguers in this area (mn) would survive off it and pork fat for much of their winters. all kinds of water fowl feed off it during migrations.
i eat nothing but the good stuff though. that is the hand harvested wood parched rice. commercially grown wild rice is harvested with air boats and picks up every last seed. so a genetically different crop is grown each year, where as hand harvested rice from canoes lets some of the seeds fall back in the water so they may grow the following season. this produces a better seed as it is more suited for its environment. also commercially harvest rice is dried with heat lamps. this makes the outer shell super hard and takes longer to cook and often does not fully digest. where as hand harvested is often wood parched, this gives it a better flavor and the kernals fluff up more when you cook it. this rice should cook in 10 to 15 minutes compaired to 45 mins to an hour for lamp dried rice.
i like to soak the rice in water for an hour or so before i start to cook it. this starts to open the kernals some making cooking easier, it also gets ride of some of the marshy smell and taste. i also change the water it is boiling in once or twice, then add chicken stock or any kind of stock you want to cook with. when i drain the water i let it sit for a while afterwards stirring every five minutes or so, this i believe is the secret to fluffy wild rice, otherwise it can get kind of mushy.
one of my favorite dishes is wild rice with walnuts, bacon, rendered bear fat and whatever kind of veggies or wild edibles you like.
another big plus to wild rice is if stored properly it can last for years, great for your home survival kit, i keep a stock of 8 to 10 pounds at all times.
wow, that sounds ridiculously good.
Wild rice with anything … ridiculously good?? Discuss! 
I was thinking, you could grind wild rice with a mortar & pestle and use it like you’d use flour.
no, bacon w/anything! ;D and i can only imagine what bear grease would add to that combination. . .
but seriously, i don’t eat grains that much but wild rice tastes kinda nutty, and i like the way it curls up when ya cook it long enough.
bear fat is definitley tasty stuff and good for you.
wild rice makes a very good flour. you can make a dough out of it throw some berries and nuts in, put on the ashes of your fire and you have a delicious treat.
also good as a stew thickner
heyvictor,
Thanks for those links Curt. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of the harvesting and processing.
You’re welcome. I have more of us harvesting maple syrup, fishing, and other things like that. I forgot to mention in my last post that my teachers/friends eventually became family.
There was a large lake where I used to live in Idaho with a lot of wild rice. A commercial outfit that had the rights to harvest it. They used those motorized airboats to do it. Other people were allowed to harvest for personal use, but this one company had the exclusive rights to sell it.
Yeah, that really doesn’t go on around here specifically. I don’t think the tribe (The Chippewa) would allow it, especially after the Walleye Wars of the 1990’s. The biggest concern right around here is the labeling of the wild rice that is sold in the grocery stores. All the “wild rice” that is available to me on the store shelf really isn’t wild rice! It’s what they call cultivated rice or “paddy rice.”
In the spring the whole rice area would be full of swans. Sometimes there would be hundreds and hundreds of swans. It was beautiful.
That really does sound beautiful. Around here there are a few swans but mostly tons of ducks. Flocks and flocks fly in at sunset while you’re out there knocking rice into your canoe, it’s just beautiful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I thought I would share this prophecy because wild rice was called “the food that grows on water” in it. It’s the first of the seven prophecies that came to the Chippewa (They’re also called Ojibway and Ojibwa, or they call themselves Anishinabe) people before they migrated here.
http://www.wabanaki.com/seven_fires_prophecy.htm
Seven prophets came to the Anishinabe. They came at a time when the people were living a full and peaceful life on the North Eastern coast of North America. These prophets left the people with seven predictions of what the future would bring. Each of the prophecies was called a fire and each fire referred to a particular era of time that would come in the future. Thus, the teachings of the seven prophets are now called the "Seven Fires".The first prophet said to the people,
“In the time of the First Fire, the Anishinabe nation will rise up and follow the sacred shell of the Midewiwin Lodge. The Midewiwin Lodge will serve as a rallying point for the people and its traditional ways will be the source of much strength. The Sacred Megis will lead the way to the chosen ground of the Anishinabe. You are to look for a turtle shaped island that is linked to the purification of the earth. You will find such an island at the beginning and end of your journey. There will be seven stopping places along the way. You will know the chosen ground has been reached when you come to a land where food grows on water. If you do not move you will be destroyed.”
Also, I’ve always found the seventh prophecy rather interesting. I sometimes think this is why places like Rewild.Info and The Ishmael Community and many others exist.
The seventh prophet that came to the people long ago said to be different from the other prophets. He was young and had a strange light in his eyes. He said,"In the time of the Seventh Fire New People will emerge. They will retrace their steps to find what was left by the trail. Their steps will take them to the Elders who they will ask to guide them on their journey. But many of the Elders will have fallen asleep. They will awaken to this new time with nothing to offer. Some of the Elders will be silent because no one will ask anything of them. The New People will have to be careful in how they approach the Elders. The task of the New People will not be easy.
"If the New People will remain strong in their quest the Water Drum of the Midewiwin Lodge will again sound its voice. There will be a rebirth of the Anishinabe Nation and a rekindling of old flames. The Sacred Fire will again be lit.
“It is this time that the light skinned race will be given a choice between two roads. If they choose the right road, then the Seventh Fire will light the Eighth and final Fire, an eternal fire of peace, love brotherhood and sisterhood. If the light skinned race makes the wrong choice of the roads, then the destruction which they brought with then in coming to this country will come back at them and cause much suffering and death to all the Earth’s people.”
Traditional Mide people of Ojibway and people from other nations have interpreted the “two roads” that face the light skinned race as the road to technology and the other road to spiritualism. They feel that the road to technology represents a continuation of headlong rush to technological development. This is the road that has led to modern society, to a damaged a seared Earth. Could it be that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction? The road to spirituality represents the slower path that traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again. This Earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there.
The prophet of the Fourth Fire spoke of a time when
“two nations will join to make a mighty nation.”
He was speaking of the coming of the light skinned race and the face of brotherhood that the light skinned Brother could be wearing. It is obvious from the history of this country that this was not the face worn by the light skinned race as a whole. That might nation spoken of in the Fourth Fire has never been formed.
If the Natural people of the Earth could just wear the face of brotherhood, we might be able to deliver our society from the road to destruction. Could we make the two roads that today represent two clashing world views come together to form a mighty nation? Could a Nation be formed that is guided by respect for all living things? Are we the people of the Seventh Fire?
Take care,
Curt
Thanks again Curt, this time for the “Seven fires” link. A lot of food for thought there.
Billy