Basic Wild Rice

Wild rice is a grass that grows in small lakes and slow-flowing streams and is native to North America. Native Americans harvested wild rice by canoeing into a stand of plants and bending the ripe grain heads with wooden sticks, called knockers, to get the rice into the canoe. Wild rice is closely related to true rice as both share the same tribe, Oryzeae. Wild rice is higher in protein than regular brown rice and contains a high amount of zinc. Cooked wild rice can be added to soups, made into grain pilafs, or stuffed into cooked winter squash.