Wild Rice Dressing

If you can't find dried cranberries, use fresh ones and add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar to the mix. It's just as good. Instead of wild rice, I used leftover Uncle Ben's Seasoned Rice & Wild Rice box mix.

Ingredients
2 cups wild rice
Salt
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1-2 Tbsp fresh sage, minced
4 cups bread croutons
2 cups chicken, vegetable or turkey stock
Method
1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the wild rice. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes or so.

2 Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3 As the rice is cooking, heat a large sauté pan on high for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and shake the pan a little so they don't stick. Dry sauté the mushrooms, stirring often, until the release their water. When most of the water has burned off, sprinkle salt over the mushrooms, add 3 Tbsp of the butter, onion and celery and toss to combine. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.

4 Drain the rice when it is tender (most of the grains will have split by then) and add the rice to the sauté pan. Turn off the heat and add the sage, croutons, dried cranberries and walnuts. Sprinkle a little more salt over everything. Stir to combine.

5 Put the dressing into a large, oven-proof pot with a lid and dot with the remaining butter. Add the chicken stock, cover and bake for 45 minutes. If you want, take the cover off for the last 15 minutes to brown the top.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.