RECIPE DOCTOR
Wild rice stuffing helps cut holiday fat

By Elaine Magee

Q. For a change of pace, I'm looking for a wild rice stuffing recipe that isn't too high in fat. Can you help in time for Thanksgiving?

A. I like this wild rice stuffing because it has two great flavors going for it — the toasted hazelnuts and the lightly browned apples. If the wild rice is too much for you, you can use à cup cooked brown rice and à cup cooked wild rice. The contrast in rice colors is also nice.

Since nuts add quite a few grams of fat to this recipe, I kept the additional fat to a minimum by browning the apple and onion in 1à tablespoons of no trans margarine. The original recipe also called for filling a goose with the stuffing and roasting both for 1à hours. Well, goose is notoriously fatty, so we're going to skip the goose grease and bake the stuffing separately.

I added some additional flavor by using chicken broth to cook the rice instead of water and browning the apples and onions. Toasting the hazelnuts is also key to the flavor.

Original recipe contains approximately 250 calories, 17 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, and 10 mg cholesterol per serving.

If you can't find hazelnuts, any toasted nut will suffice (toasted macadamia nuts would work well along with walnuts, pecans or almonds).

WILD RICE HAZELNUT STUFFING

• 1 cup dry wild rice
• 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoon no trans margarine (8 grams fat per tablespoon)
• 2 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2/3 cup chopped sweet onion
• 2 teaspoons ground savory (or summer savory)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2/3 cup toasted hazelnuts (whole, halved or coarsely chopped, as desired)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Salt, to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Add wild rice and chicken broth to medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover pan and reduce heat to simmer. Let simmer until wild rice is cooked through (according to wild rice package directions).

While rice is simmering, melt margarine over medium heat in a large, nonstick frying pan. Add apples and onions. SautÚ until apples and onions are lightly brown (about 5 minutes).

Mix cooked rice, apple and onion mixture, savory, parsley and hazelnuts together in large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place in a casserole dish and bake, covered, 30 minutes.

Makes 10 servings.

Per serving: 162 calories, 4 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate, 7 g fat (.6 g saturated fat, 5 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 8 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 37 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids .3 g Omega-6 fatty acids .6 g Weight Watchers POINTS 3

Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook." Reach her through www.recipedoctor.com. Column distributed by Knight Ridder News Service.