The only grain indigenous to North America.

“If you want to eat healthy, wild rice should be on your table.”

— Gary Charwood, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Manoomin is the only grain indigenous to Turtle Island, the Ojibwe name for North America. Rich in protein, gluten free, and low in fat, wild rice has an abundance of minerals including iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc, as well as B vitamins.

How to prepare wild rice.

Pour wild rice into a pot and cover with water.

  1. Stir the rice around the pot to rinse the rice, then pour off the water.

  2. Repeat 5-7 times, until the rinse water is clear.

  3. Fill the pot with water to cover rice (to about a half-inch above the rice).

  4. Place on medium heat and simmer until water has evaporated.

  5. Stir to be sure water is gone and remove from heat.

Cooked wild rice will store in the refrigerator for a week. No taste is lost in refrigeration, but rather, it seems to enhance the flavor. Wild rice freezes well and will keep for six months when drained well and stored in an air-tight container.

Say boozhoo to chicken wild rice soup.

  • 3 cups cooked Leech Lake Wild Rice (about 2/3 cup dry rice)

  • 3 T butter

  • 2 large, halved chicken breasts, diced

  • 1 medium onion, diced

  • 1 T garlic, minced

  • 1 tsp black pepper

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1 lb. carrots, diced

  • 1/4 cup white flour

  • 1 and 1/2 quarts chicken stock

  • 1 T fresh sage, minced (may substitute 1 tsp dried, ground)

  • 1 T fresh rosemary, minced (may substitute 1 tsp dried, ground)

  • 1 pint half-and-half

  • 3 T fresh parsley, minced

  1. Prepare wild rice (1 cup dry rice will make three+ cups cooked rice).

  2. Add 1½ T butter to fry pan and sauté chicken until cooked through, set aside.

  3. Put 1½ T butter in stock pot and melt, add diced onion, cook until translucent.

  4. Add garlic, pepper, salt, and carrots, cook until carrots are easily pierced with a fork.

  5. Whisk in flour until vegetables are coated.

  6. Add chicken stock and heat.

  7. Add the previously cooked rice and the previously cooked chicken, add the herbs (sage and rosemary), and whisk in half-and-half.

  8. Bring soup to a simmer.

  9. Add fresh parsley just before serving.

Serves 6-8.

Once you say hello (boozhoo) to wild rice soup and see how easy it is to make, you’ll say miigwich (thank you) to Josh Red Day for teaching you how to make it!