Wild Rice with Fennel, Walnuts, and Cranberries

     Usually, I get very irritated when people get all excited about fall-themed things before fall actually begins. If it's before October 1st, just let me enjoy the fact that it's still summer in my mind. However, this year I was inspired to accept the changing of the seasons a little earlier, and of course, this inspiration came through food. Those recipe magazines right next to the registers at the grocery store are a very tempting impulse buy, and this week, I found one full of delicious-looking fall foods. Later this week, I'll be posting a pumpkin cake recipe, which was already so perfect, that I had to copycat it directly from said magazine. But since 99% of the time, I hate being a culinary copycat, I really made today's rice recipe my own, to make it easier, cheaper, and yes, I'll say it...better!
     Like most of my recent culinary endeavors, I had to tripe this recipe in order to feed my whole dorm, so once again, please don't be alarmed by the extremely large quantities of food pictured here. The ingredient list is for 6-8 servings. I"ll admit that I was a little nervous cooking this dish for all my housemates because the mix of flavors, while extremely delicious, is a little out of the ordinary. But when I come up with a recipe that just happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian, I just have to make it for the house. I found the mix of flavors to be delightfully festive for fall, and luckily, everyone seemed to agree.

INGREDIENTS:
2 little boxes of wild rice (5 servings, according to the packages)
1 cup of uncooked brown rice
1 fennel bulb, slices, plus the fronds for garnish
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
Frozen peas (however many you want)
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook each type of rice in a separate pot, according to the package directions. Brown rice usually takes 45 minutes, and wild rice up to an hour.
2. Meanwhile, chop the onion, garlic, and fennel. You won't need the fennel stalks, just the bulb part that looks like an onion and the leafy parts on top. Notice the delightful anise smell of the fennel as you chop it. It won't taste that strong once cooked, so don't worry if (like me) you hate licorice.
3. In a frying pan, sauté the fennel and onion in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes or until tender. Then, add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the broth, and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat.

5. While the pan is still hot, stir in the frozen peas, cranberries, walnuts, fennel fronds, and white wine vinegar.

6. Finally, in a large serving bowl, mix all of this together with both types of rice.

Enjoy, and come back later this week for the promised pumpkin cake and more!