As much I’ve talked about myself and likes and dislikes for different foods…the battles that have ensued, instigated by myself against the raw food world as a whole…and lest we forget the many times I’ve blamed my food for each of my many surprises…I experienced what I’ll call a humbling moment with a jar of wild rice tonight that has made me rethink a few things. Maybe it wasn’t the food all this time, maybe it’s been me. I’ll explain.
All my life I have had a severe aversion to wild rice. I don’t like the way it tastes, I don’t like the way it looks, and I don’t like the way it feels. I ignore it and eat brown rice instead. I look right past it, and go for the farro and the quinoa every time. But, in the spirit of the raw diet experiment, and after reading a super good recipe including it, I decided to buy some wild rice today. Still didn’t like the way it looked, but I was really craving some carbs, and again, why not? Afterall, I was just gnawing on a corn cob last night (again), surely I can give wild rice a try.
So the directions in the recipe said I needed to bloom the seed. Seed? Therein, issue number one diverted. The reason I have never liked the way wild rice looked, is because I was comparing it to other rices. Wild rice is not rice. Imagine that–it’s a grass seed. Looks pretty good for a seed, I thought. Bloom. Okay, sounds less scary than sprout, and I know I can do that, so I continued. I put raw wild “rice” in a jar filled with lots of water expecting to go through the usual–stare at it for 3 days, rinse it twice a day, and at the end hope for something that’s at least as pliable as a raw piece of spaghetti, but love it because I put effort into it. I put it aside. Tonight, when I went to rinse it, I discovered the miracle of wild “rice”. It had bloomed itself! It was finished. The first actually finished grain/seed I’ve had this whole time. The “rice” had opened up, and was soft, chewy and oh so flavorful! The possibilities, I thought!
Point is, I’m sure I’ll come up with something delicious to do with my bloomed wild “rice”, and when I do, I will share it with all of you. As I am approaching Day 14, it won’t be long. In the meantime, I can’t help but give pause. After speaking so poorly about the “rice” for so long, to everyone I can think of, passing it up time and time again…today, it has given me such a delightful gift. I am humbled!
All this time the problem was…it’s been cooked! Becoming more and more of a Raw believer, literally–day, by day.
Another great breakthrough. So proud of you! As Day 14 approaches, I can see you filing for an extension….
Let’s speak later.