Instant Pot wild rice pilaf with cranberries and pecans
Chewy wild rice with toasted pecans, tart cranberries, orange and kale, a hearty autumn grain dinner the Instant Pot makes almost effortless.
- 60 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.39 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2¼ cups vegetable broth
- 1½ cups wild rice blend, rinsed
- 4 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¾ tsp salt
Each serving has about 450 calories, 9 g protein, 73 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $2.39 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Set the Instant Pot to and toast the pecans in the dry pot, stirring, 3 minutes, . Scoop them out.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Timer: 3 min
Add the oil, onion and celery and cook, stirring, 4 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic and thyme for 30 seconds, then press Cancel.
Timer: 4 min
Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom well. Add the rice and salt and stir.
Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing and cook on High Pressure for 25 minutes.
Timer: 25 min
Let the pressure come down on its own for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to Venting.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Keep your hand and face away from the valve. The steam is very hot.Stir in the kale, cranberries, orange and orange juice, put the lid back on and leave 5 minutes, until the kale .
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Timer: 5 min
Fluff with a fork and serve topped with the pecans and goat cheese.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
