WILD RICE SALAD FROM THE AMERICAN INDIAN MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON DC

Several years ago Gregg and I went to Washington DC to visit the United States Botanical Garden. From there we walked over to the National Museum for the American Indian. It is only a very short walk away, on the next block. We were lucky to visit the museums often back in those days (we live approximate 25 miles away as the crow flies). This particular day, after browsing through The American Indian Museum on the first floor, we were ready for lunch. 

Since the museum opened, we enjoyed trying the various dishes offered in the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe. It is a fun experience as we are able to choose native dishes from all across the United States. Online I read that the name "Mitsitam" means "Let's Eat" in the language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples. 

We enjoy all their dishes but the traditional Fry Bread and the Wild Rice Salad were two favorites, most definitely. Gregg said he wished we could make the wild rice dish at home and not really thinking I would be able to get the recipe, I did a search online. Much to my surprise it was easy to get and I made it for an evening meal.

This is Gregg's plate when we were at the museum.  He had the turkey on a roll with some kind of grainy mustard and you can see the Wild Rice Salad that I will be giving the recipe for below.

My dish was the turkey on a roll, and I ordered a side of wild onions with corn and a crabapple and cranberry relish. I will study the menu before we go next time. There are so many choices, and I have a hard time deciding while waiting in line. 

Wild Rice Salad
(Native Recipe from Mitsitam Cafe, National Museum of the American Indian.)

You can find the recipe here.  This will take you to a page where you will meet the Executive Chef for the museum.  Lots of interesting information. Scroll down a ways for the recipe. There are others on this page.

1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
6 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cup wild rice
1 carrot, cut into half-inch long matchsticks
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 Roma tomato, finely diced
4 or 5 scallions (green onions), finely chopped
3 bunches of watercress

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the pine nuts and pumpkin seeds in a small baking pan and toast them in the oven for about 10 minutes, until they are golden brown.  Let cool.

Combine the chicken stock and wild rice in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce to low and simmer, covered, for about 45-55 minutes, until the grains are just opened up and tender. Spread the hot rice on a baking sheet and let cool.

When the rice is cool, scrape it into a large bowl and add carrots, dried cranberries, diced tomato, toasted pine nuts and pumpkin seed mixture, and scallions.

Toss all of the ingredients together with the vinaigrette, refrigerate for at least 1 hour and serve over watercress.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Vinaigrette Recipe

3 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons honey

Place cider vinegar in a bowl and slowly mix in oil. Sweeten with just a touch of honey.

This is what I wrote at the time: I made this recipe just before Gregg walked through the door. I put it in the fridge and we went out shortly afterwards. The weather really has been glorious around here lately and we haven't wanted to waste any of it. By the time we were heading home it was past dinnertime and we stopped off at our supermarket to pick up one of their honey-baked chickens. We also bought potato salad, and that made a really nice meal along with the rice salad. The salad was great. (I shared the recipe with friends and they also loved it). There were a lot of leftovers and the next night we served the rice over a bed of watercress.  We don't eat watercress that often and we were both surprised at the taste, peppery and it almost reminded us of a radish taste. Once combined with the salad they complimented each very nicely.

I was surprised that after cooking the wild rice there was a lot of liquid left in the pot. I am not sure why this was. I had expected it to absorb the liquid like regular rice. I had to drain it thoroughly before spreading it out on the baking sheet.

We found we didn't need a lot as it seemed very filling.

It has been a long time since I bought a cookbook, but when I saw that the museum had one with all their recipes inside, I treated myself and here it is.

It has all kinds of unusual recipes, along with interesting facts about the Native Indian peoples across America. I took photos of a few of the pages to share. If you enlarge them, more details can be read.

This page is a bit blurry for reading but the photos are nice to look at I think.

Here is a map of all the museums on the Mall. We were lucky enough to find a parking space right behind the museum on the Mall side, but this is a rare occurrence. We usually park in an underground parking lot about half a mile away. No so bad and we always welcome a bit of exercise. The road we take for the parking is opposite the National Air and Space Museum on the right-hand side of that road.  

The bottom left you can see the US Capitol, next is the U.S. Botanic Garden and then you will see the National Museum of the American Indian.

That's all for today's post. I hope you found it interesting.