This week has been an incredibly busy one for us, we are getting ready for the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn next weekend where we will be vendors, selling our wares. I love all the wonderful trips we get to take throughout the year, but the two weeks leading up are always very hectic. We have been working 12 hour days, are working this entire weekend including the holiday on Monday and we still have so much to do next week before we leave. I have still been cooking dinner each night, even if it is just a salad, some steamed spinach or a fresh veggie burger from the farmer’s market and I have been keeping up with my yoga routine. I know for me, the busier and more stressed I am, the more important these things are to my health and mental well being, than any other time. Though the meals have been much more thrown together and more about quickness and ease than anything else, it still makes me so happy to sit down to something I made totally from scratch with all fresh ingredients. It calms me and allows me to have a relaxing end to my day.

I decided after hitting up the farmer’s market, planting the veggie garden, printing a poster and sewing (among many other things today), I deserved to take an hour break to cook and enjoy a more put together meal. Sometime during the week, I saw these Wild Rice Patties from fresh365 and decided I would make some variation of it, as I had just about everything on hand and it looked to be a simple and tasty meal. I had a decent amount of spinach from the farmer’s market so I thought rather than the morels, which aren’t easy to find locally, the spinach would be a wonderful substitution. These patties had so much flavor and were so satisfying. Wild rice has so much going on, there is a nutty, sweetness that you won’t find in usual white or brown rice. The mint and chives, that I grabbed fresh from the garden, were perfect, I added more mint than the recipe called for as I really wanted to get that flavor. I guess I had forgotten how great mint was in things other than mojitos, the clean and crisp taste totally blew me away and stole the show. Also, we had bought some spicy yogurt sauce today at the farmer’s market and I tried it on a few bites of these patties and it was a great compliment.  I will most definitely be making these again and I am excited to try out some different variations. These would be great with a crisp green salad on the side.

Wild Rice and Spinach Patties
makes 8 small patties
adapted from fresh365

1 egg
2 c cooked wild rice, brought to room temperature (leftover rice works great)
2 c chopped fresh spinach, cleaned and stems removed
3 T finely chopped chives
3 T chopped mint
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3 T olive oil

Prepare the wild rice according to the package. When fully cooked, turn off heat and add the spinach, stir to combine and return the lid, allow to sit 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk egg. Add rice and spinach mixture, chives, mint, salt and pepper. Stir well, and form into 8 patties. In a large grill pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Transfer patties to the pan, press down with a spatula, and cook 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Flip patties over, press down with a spatula, and cook 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.