Wild Rice Salad

What was cooking for my personal chef clients this week?

I needed to do some thinking out of the box this week for my vegetarian clients and for myself. It is so easy to get in a rut, eating the same thing all the time. There are those weight loss researchers ( sorry, don’t have any links for it) who say that eating mostly the same food all the time is good for weight loss. As a chef and an adventuresome eater ( and one who has lost and gained weight many times), I agree and disagree. I need a framework of foods that are recommended for me to eat AND I need variety. If I am bored with eating brown rice and salad everyday, then I am really likely to head to the cookie aisle or the ice cream shoppe. So, searching around for some healthy  carbohydrate alternatives to grain, I remembered wild rice. It is a grass, not a grain. It is a starchy carbohydrate but is high in amino acids (the building blocks for protein) and many minerals.

So here is my riff on a recipe found on the internet at www.bunkycooks.com. The original recipe called for dried cranberries. I cannot be the only one who is just not fond of those. And why are they found in so many things ?

Wild Rice Salad for the Fall

for the dressing:

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. hemp oil
2 T. sherry vinegar ( or a flavored vinegar like fig balsamic would be really good)
1 tsp. honey
salt and pepper to taste

for the salad:
1 c. wild rice, rinsed well
2 c. vegetable or chicken broth
2 c. water
1 tart green apple, chopped
finely chopped vegetables totalling 2 cups ( suggestions = celery, green or red onion, cooked winter squash cubes, red pepper, carrots, raw or cooked zucchini)
1/2 c. chopped nuts ( I used hazelnuts. almonds or walnuts would be good. anything you like)
a tsp. or more of chopped fresh herbs – I used rosemary and thyme

and, if you must, the ubiquitous dried cranberries. Try it without, though. The apple and the honey make it nicely sweet.

Combine the broth, water and rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes ( covered). Taste it to test for doneness. (It doesn’t get really soft. You want the grains to split and you will see the purplish insides.) Drain and cool the rice.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a medium sized salad bowl. Add the cooled rice and the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and enjoy.

I wish I would have added parsley for a bit more green. next time.