Wild Rice

This is the ninth post in the series Great Grains, highlighting unusual whole grains and easy ways to incorporate them into your diet.  Check out posts on bulgur,

Photo of James Norton by Becca Dilley

Porketta is one of those recipes that you shove in the oven and forget about. The meat emerges tender and succulent. It serves a bunch of people, and the leftovers – sliced high and piled on crusty baguette, or slathered with bbq sauce on a soft, whole wheat bun, or diced and simmered in ragu for pasta – make things easy on the cook.

It’s one of those recipes that came to the Iron Range with Italian miners, was adopted by Czech neighbors and Norwegian farmers, and is now found on menus throughout the Twin Cities (and given an uptempo spin).

We've entered the period of summer when local produce gets so plentiful and bold that it almost becomes overwhelming. Farmers market tables bulge with color and are rivaled only by the swell of the crowds that flow between them. It's the pinnacle of the season for anyone that enjoys gastronomic adventures at home. I often find myself returning from a farmers market with bags full of vegetables and no idea how I’m going to use them all.

I'm extremely happy to let you know that we've got an ideal location for our June Simple, Good, and Tasty meal: St. Paul's Heartland Restaurant. Here's what the City Pages said about Heartland, naming it St. Paul's best restaurant for 2009: