Anyway, I bought two 16 oz bags and stashed them in my cupboard. After a week or so of pondering what to do with them, I sat down and began googling for something dairy/egg/gluten free that we could make with it. Hmmmm. Not a lot came up. Not much at all. Several non-cream based chicken and wild rice soups, but I was looking for using up a large amount of wild rice and having it as a fair portion of the main dish. I was pleased with the results:
Wild Rice & Sausage Lettuce Wraps:
(Serves 4-6 people, no need to defrost your sausage- I didn't and this still hit the table in a very short time period since you make the meat while the rice cooks.)
32 oz Jimmy Dean original/regular pork sausage (you could use their "Sage" sausage and omit the sage later in the recipe)
2 c. long grain wild rice, rinsed VERY well
4 c. of Swanson's beef stock* + 2-4 c. water
1/4 c. dried minced onion (or you could easily use chopped onion or onion powder, I just happened to be out of fresh onion)
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4-1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp. sage
Crisp, large leaf lettuce (we used Romaine)
Cook wild rice and minced dried onion (if using) in 4 c. beef stock + 2-4 cups of water. (I used 8 cups because my wild rice package said to cook 1 c wild rice in 4 c. water, but I ended up draining off 3 cups when the rice was done cooking. I reserved the broth and used it the next day.) Keep it covered while simmering and be sure to check this page for some great tips if you, like me, don't cook wild rice often.
At the same time, in a large frying pan, cook your sausage (break/crumble it up as it cooks) along with the celery (and fresh onion if you used that), garlic and green pepper.
When your rice is done, drain off any excess broth and then return it to the heat briefly to steam off any additional liquid. When your sausage is browned (make sure to cook it thoroughly, I like ours a bit browned/crisped on one side), stir the wild rice in. Sprinkle sage on top, stir, & taste test. Serve on rinsed lettuce leaves.
***At the time of this post, Swanson's beef stock was listed on their site as a gluten-free product. Always check labels! You can go to Campbell's site and on this page under the question "Does Campbell offer gluten free products?" there are links to lists of the current GF items for the US and Canada.
The above recipe was loosely inspired by this recipe I found for MN Wild Rice Dressing.