An enticing breakfast option, inspired by Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman’s cookbook “Turtle Island,” features a delightful wild rice porridge with birch syrup. This vegan and gluten-free dish is a perfect way to utilize leftover wild rice and kickstart your day with a burst of flavors. For added texture, Sherman recommends pairing it with his homemade Great Lakes granola. Below are the recipes for both dishes.
To create the Wild Rice Porridge With Birch Syrup, start with cooked wild rice, sunflower milk, birch or maple syrup, and a dash of fine sea salt. Cook the mixture until the rice plumps and is suspended in a creamy liquid. For a smoother consistency, blend a portion of the porridge. Serve the porridge in bowls, optionally topped with Great Lakes Granola, and additional milk and syrup if desired.
For the Great Lakes Granola, combine sunflower seeds, pepitas, black walnuts, hickory nuts, maple syrup, sunflower oil, and salt. Bake the mixture until toasty, stirring halfway through, then let it cool before storing in an airtight container.
Both recipes are from “Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America” by Sean Sherman. Photographs by David Alvarado with Jaida Grey Eagle. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House.