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Spring Clean Eats: Wild Rice with Spring Vegetables Recipe

Traditionally, bitter greens, fresh herbs, and young vegetables help support the digestive system and awaken the senses for the brightness of spring and summer.
Picture of Jana Kilgore

Jana Kilgore

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Mix of brown and wild rice with zucchini and basil pesto on a light background.

Spring is a time of great change but also a time of growth, moisture, and increasing temperatures. Grounding, simple, and nourishing foods help pacify vata dosha, which is unsteady and can be thrown off by the constant change of the season. Incorporating lighter, bitter, and sour foods helps to reduce the abundance of kapha dosha (heavy, wet, cold energy) from the winter season. Traditionally, bitter greens, fresh herbs, and young vegetables help support the digestive system and awaken the senses for the brightness of spring and summer. 

These recipes are some of my long-time favorites and can be made in large batches and shared with friends and family. Many can be served either warm or cool, depending on the time of day and weather. Ayurveda recommends most of our food be cooked and any raw foods eaten during the middle of the day when digestion is strongest. I hope you enjoy these staples from my family kitchen—and add your own personal spin to the dishes for you and your family.

Wild Rice with Spring Vegetables Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup wild rice, rinsed until water runs clear 
  • 2 cups purified water 
  • ½ tsp sea salt or kosher salt 
  • 1-1 ½ cups shelled English peas 
  • 2-3 baby carrots, peeled and julienned 
  • 1 cup chopped kale or chard 
  • ½ basil, chopped 
  • 1 cup chopped broccoli 
  • 1 tbsp dill, chopped 
  • 1-2 tbsp lemon juice 
  • ⅓ cup olive oil 
  • Sea salt or kosher salt 
  • Black pepper 

Directions 

  1. In a medium pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the rice and a pinch of salt, reduce to low, and cover. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is soft. You may also cook in a rice cooker. 
  2. While the rice is cooking, prepare the vegetables and herbs. In a large mixing bowl, mix the peas, carrots, kale (or chard), basil, broccoli, and dill. 
  3. Once the rice is finished cooking, immediately remove from the pot or rice cooker and add into the mixing bowl on top of the rest of the veggies and herbs. Leave without mixing for 5-10 minutes to lightly steam the broccoli, kale, peas, and carrots. 
  4. Lastly, add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly, and serve either warm or cool. Toasted nuts, seeds, or your favorite cheese sprinkled on top is a wonderful pairing.
Picture of Jana Kilgore

Jana Kilgore

Jana Kilgore is an Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga teacher, private chef, and guide living in Hawaii after many years of practice and teaching in Michigan and the Bay Area. Since her teens, she has been using food, plants, and meditation as medicine, and has dedicated her life to empowering people to take back their health and happiness through the gifts of yoga, Ayurveda, and nature. She specializes in digestive issues, autoimmune disorders, hormonal health, mental health, trauma and recovery, and recently added postpartum support to her practice. Jana teaches Ayurveda for yoga teachers in various trainings and also yoga teacher trainings in Yosemite with Balanced Rock Foundation. When she isn't teaching, cooking, or working with clients, she is working on a book, slowly learning to surf, or out on a trail!

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