Wild Rice and Broccoli

All things in moderation.  Ever heard that before?  It was written (carved, whatever) on the Temple to Apollo at Delphi.  (Or so I was informed.  I don't actually read Greek, so I was relying on someone else's interpretation.)  The ancient Greeks were an interesting bunch.  But the point here is that it's fairly sound advice.  Applied to food, I think it comes down to watch what you eat, but don't obsess about it; or the reverse-- enjoy unhealthy foods, but don't make them the basis of your diet.

Recently, I took a vacation.  During that time I enjoyed eating things like an amazingly massive cinnamon roll drenched in delicious maple glaze, lots of potato salad, and baked spaghetti.  After all this, I was trying to come up with something fresh and healthy for lunch.  I found broccoli in my fridge and wild rice in my pantry, and decided to go with those. Wild rice is rather healthy, since it is left in its whole grain state.  This means the fiber and protein content is higher than that of white rice.  It also means there's a nutty flavor flavor to it.  I'm also a fan of broccoli.  To begin with, it is the king of the dipping veggies-- those florets work like sponges, trapping all the wonderful flavor.  It's also crisp and sturdy, and can stand some cooking.  As a kid, I hated cooked broccoli.  Even now, I prefer a light cooking. Just enough to soften it but leave it crisp.  

I seasoned the dish with onion, coriander and dill weed.  I'm not sure I've ever seen those used together, but I wasn't really sure what kind of seasoning I wanted, so I chose them by smell.  I thought they smelled like what I wanted to eat.  Since smell is really what is responsible for most of what we call "taste" (we only truly taste saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, sourness, and umami [although some folks dispute the latter's existence]),  this method works pretty well.

Wild Rice with Broccoli

1/2 C uncooked wild rice

1 Tbsp butter (if you wanted to be really healthy, I suppose olive oil would be a good choice, too)

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried dill weed

1/2 tsp ground coriander

3/4 C broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces

Cook the rice according to the package directions.  (They will vary based on type of rice.)  Use the time that the rice is cooking to prep everything else.  When the rice is done, melt the butter in a pan with the onion powder, dill, and coriander.  Toss in the broccoli and stir it around for about a minute to allow it to soak up the flavors.  Add the rice and stir an additional minute or so until the broccoli takes on a bright green color and is slightly tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
(Note-- times are approximate.  I actually added everything to the pan at once, but the rice soaked up my flavors faster than the broccoli could, which wasn't necessarily bad, but not what I wanted.)

This made enough for about 2 lunch/side dish servings.  It would also have been an excellent dinner for one.