Hypoallergenic Rice Stuffing

     This is the rice-based stuffing I like to make for Thanksgiving. It contains no gluten, yeast, dairy, corn, soy or tree nuts, so it works at my house. If you are allergic to pine nuts, just leave them out: they're good in this stuffing, but they're not essential. 

     The seasoning is reminiscent of the rice stuffing in certain Turkish stuffed vegetable dishes.  The reason for using brown rice and wild rice is that they cook much more slowly than white rice and can better stand up to a long cooking time inside a turkey.

     2-1/2 c. brown rice (See Rice  in the Glossary) 

     1 c. wild rice

     1/2 c. pine nuts (See Pine Nuts in the Glossary)
     2/3 c. olive oil (See Oil in the Glossary)
     3 medium onions, chopped

     10 cloves garlic, sliced

     6 celery stalks, sliced

     1 Tb. salt (See Salt in the Glossary)

     1/2 Tb. black pepper (See Spices in the Glossary)

     2 Tb. dried mint (See Spices in the Glossary)

     1 Tb. dried dill weed (See Spices in the Glossary)

     juice of 3 lemons (See Juice in the Glossary)

    The easiest way to precook the rice is in a large pot full of water (12 or more cups). Bring the water to a boil, stir in the brown rice and wild rice, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 40 minutes or so, until the rice is just cooked. (Remember, it will have more cooking time in the oven.)  Drain. Mean­while, saute the pine nuts in a smidge of the olive oil on medium heat until lightly browned. Gently saute the onions and celery with the salt in the rest of the olive oil just until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and continue cooking briefly, just until the garlic turns translucent. Be careful not to brown it. Add the black pepper, mint, and dill and continue cooking for a few seconds, just enough to wake up the spices.  Add the pine nuts and the vegetables to the rice. Stir in the lemon juice, and chill thoroughly before stuffing the turkey. (Or cook the turkey by itself and cover the dressing and finish cooking it either on the stove top or, if there's room, in the oven. You may find that an unstuffed turkey dries out less in the oven.)

     Makes 13-14 cups of stuffing, enough for a 25-pound turkey.

Variation: For a more conventionally American approach to seasoning the stuffing, replace the mint and dill with 2 Tb. fresh rosemary leaves and 2 Tb. fresh thyme leaves.