Friday, July 25, 2014

Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad

Yum

A salad of wild rice, dried cherries, and pecans tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette.  It makes a great side dish or lunch.

Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad:  A salad of wild rice, dried cherries, and pecans tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette.  It makes a great side dish or lunch.



Wild rice reminds me of Minnesota and when I think of Minnesota I think of family.  My husband is from Minnesota and we lived there for a few years.  Much of his family is still in Minnesota and one of my favorite places to go (besides the cities) is Lengby.  Lengby is up north between Bemidji and Fargo and my husband's cousin (P) has a cabin on a lake up there.  We would visit as often as possible to fish, hang out, and just get out of the cities.  It's so relaxing up there and P is laid back and so much fun to be around.

Wild rice reminds me of Minnesota.  [Tweet this]
Wild rice growing in the Mississippi river
Wild rice growing in the Mississippi river

Not far from Lengby are the head waters of the Mississippi River.  Being from North Carolina I always thought of the Mississippi being this huge, massive, river.  I thought it was so cool to be able to step over the Mississippi where it was barely a creek.  The head waters are also a great place to canoe.  One summer I talked my husband into taking a 2 day canoe trip.  We had grand plans of going really far but that summer the river was kind of low and not easy to get down.  We still went a pretty good ways, camped overnight and made great memories.  The thing I remember most is where we put in and how much wild rice was clogging the river.  It didn't even look like a river, more of a swampy grassland and we had trouble figuring out which way to go at first.  I had never seen wild rice growing like that before and now when I think about MN I think about wild rice.  So on my husband's most recent trip to Minnesota I asked him to get some wild rice (it's much easier to find in stores, and cheaper, there).  This is the first recipe I made with the wild rice he brought home.

Made with Minnesota wild rice.  [Tweet this]
Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad:  A salad of wild rice, dried cherries, and pecans tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette.  It makes a great side dish or lunch.


Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad


Ingredients:

1 cup dry wild rice
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green onions
*Raspberry vinaigrette

Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad:  A salad of wild rice, dried cherries, and pecans tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette.  It makes a great side dish or lunch.

*Raspberry Vinaigrette:  mix 1 tbsp raspberry jam with 2 tsp balsamic vinegar until smooth.  Rapidly whisk in 2 Tbsp olive oil until emulsified (alternatively put all ingredients in a jar and shake).  You can make more vinaigrette just keep the proportion of oil to vinegar 3:1 and adjust the raspberry jam to your liking.

Rinse the wild rice under cool water in a fine mesh strainer.  Place rinsed rice in a large sauce pan and cover with about 4 cups of water and a pinch of salt (or you can use broth).  Bring water to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour until rice is tender. Drain rice and allow to cool.

In a large bowl toss and mix the cooled rice with the cherries, pecans, and onions (finely minced shallot would be delicious as well).  Lastly stir in the vinaigrette a little at a time until dressed to your liking.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serve cold or at room temperature.  Makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy.

Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad:  A salad of wild rice, dried cherries, and pecans tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette.  It makes a great side dish or lunch.



Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, Share it Sunday, See ya in the Gumbo, Much Ado, Merry Monday, Two Cup, LouLou Girls, Teach Me, Tasty Tues, Cook Craft Share, Full Plate, Plant Based Potluck, Eat Create Party, Freedom Friday




8 comments:

  1. We're rice eaters here and I'm sure my family would love this recipe. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday.

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  2. Thanks for the party Erlene. I hope your family likes it as much as I did.

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  3. Love this combination of dried cherries and pecans. Yum! Thanks for sharing at Full Plate Thursdays!

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  4. Hi Joy,
    My mouth is watering over the thought of how delicious this blend of wild rice, pecans, cherries and scallions will taste. I can't wait to make this! Thank you so much for sharing this healthy and delicious Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad with us at the Plant-Based Potluck Party Blog Hop! We will enjoy it! I'm pinning and sharing!

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  5. Thanks Shaina. I loved the sweet, tart, and crunchy nutty combination. I think wild rice pairs great with nuts because it has it's own nuttiness and the cherries compliment that nuttiness very well.

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  6. Thanks Deborah, and thanks for the party. I really loved this salad and I hope you do too.

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  7. I bet this is so good! Pinned. I'm always so impressed with your projects. I hope to see you tonight at our party. It wouldn't be a party without you! http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/

    Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls

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  8. Thanks Kim. I try to never miss a party :)

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