Winter Wild Rice Salad

With the hope to get healthy fresh on the mind, it can be challenging to diet in the winter. We hold on to our traditional practice of salad equals diet food but long for a hearty meal. In the colder months, it is nice to have a salad featuring grains to warm the body.  Although there are many to choose from, wild rice seems to be a favorite.  Or at least in Minnesota because afterall, it is widely available here.  I have noticed that it is a top seller in the deli at the store, and so I thought I would share one of my wild rice salad recipes with you.  It can be substantial enough for a main dish when protein is added (I would serve it with a tempeh cutlet, or mix in chicken style seitan, but if you prefer chicken or serving it alongside fish or meat that would work as well).  I kept it fairly simple, but added a bit of sweet with cranberries, crunch with walnuts and savory with scallions.  Since we now sell baby kale in the store, I added it for color.  This salad would be perfect when serving company, or making a large batch and taking to lunch for the week.

Author: Amy Lyons O’Neil

Amy has worked for Fresh and Natural Foods since 2006 contributing to the variety of healthful foods we offer. She graduated with a degree in studio art from Bethel University in 2007, but in her senior year of college, found that her passion was with the art of food. She later used her photography and culinary skills to create a vegan food and recipe blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake. She has also written 3 cookbooks. She specializes in vegan and vegetarian recipes. Local, fresh and organic food has always been her focus in whatever she creates.

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Servings: 6-8 servings | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Ready in: 1 hour and 30 min

Ingredients

• 8 cups cooked wild rice
• 2 large handfulsTaylor Farms organic baby kale
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups dried organic cranberries
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 bunch organic scallions, sliced
• juice and zest of 2 medium organic oranges
• 2 Tbsp Spectrom cider vinegar
• 3 Tbsp Spectrum walnut oil
• 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the rice, kale, walnuts, cranberries, rosemary, and scallions. In a smaller bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients, then pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve!