Grilled Salmon with Wild Rice and Spinach

I discovered wild rice—that has nothing to do with rice—while living in San Francisco. I had never had it before and liked it immediately. I bought some on my next trip to the supermarket and the pack sat in my pantry for months! I just did not know what to do with it. A salad? A side-dish? A risotto-like dish? The day I decided to cook it, I just could not believe how much time it needed to fully cook!

Today, I always have some in my pantry but I don't cook it often, just because it takes about an hour to cook in boiling water (I have yet to try to cook it in my pressure cooker). Wild rice is really good for you: it's always whole-grain, it's high in fiber, high in proteins and low in fat. It's also gluten-free.The following recipe is easy but, because of the wild rice, takes a long time to prepare. Since I wanted to serve vegetables with wild rice, I added chopped frozen spinach. I served the salmon grilled with fresh lemon juice. It was easy, simple and delicious! Bon Appétit!

Ingredients
- Fresh salmon (not steaks), skin off
- 1 cup of wild rice
- 2 cups of chopped frozen spinach
- 1 lemon (or lemon juice)
- Olive oil, salt and fresh black pepper.

• In a large pot, boil water and cook the wild rice according to packaging instructions.
  
• 20 minutes before serving, start grilling the salmon pieces(in a pan, in the oven or on the grill)
  
• In a saute pan, saute the chopped spinach in olive oil
  
• Add the wild rice into the spinach and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  
• Sprinkle the salmon with lemon juice.
  
• Serve salmon with a side-dish of wild rice and spinach.

My personal comments:

• I always have chopped spinach in the freezer. I always mix them with something else so that my children don't get too picky about them.
  
• If you want to make a sauce to go along the salmon, you could just melt butter and stir in lemon juice. More calories but a smoother taste.