AWESOME WILD RICE SALAD!

I had a very busy weekend catching up with my old school friends for lunch on Saturday, which is always fun and then I had 7 people over for a plant based feast of a lunch on Sunday! Everyone loved all the food, and there was a LOT of food! This fantastic Wild Rice Salad was one of the dishes accompanying the main course and everyone was raving about it!
So I thought I'd share the recipe. There was some left over since the recipe makes a lot so Alastair took it for his lunch with some feta cheese, nothing goes to waste in our house, especially not delicious food!


This is a beautiful salad, packed full of the most delicious, nutritious and colourful ingredients. There are so many flavours and textures going on here all resulting in a wonderfully taste bud tingling sensation. From the spicy crunch of the radishes to the sweetness of the raisins, the saltiness from the sun dried tomatoes to the zingy freshness of the lime dressing this is an absolutely winning combination and definitely one to impress your friends!
Big thanks to my Twitter pal, Lee Watson over at The Beach House Kitchen for the original recipe which I adapted slightly! I used a combination of Red Camargue & Wild Rice, from Waitrose, since Wild Rice is rather expensive and not that easy to find. You could use any combination of rice but preferably brown rice. There are quite a few rice mixtures available with wild rice.
I didn't have any dill or chives so I left both out and it was still delicious.! I had half a pomegranate to use up so added the seeds which worked really well!
I hope you give this recipe a go, I can guarantee it will become a favourite!
 
Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 250g wild rice
• 1 carrot, grated
• 5 or 6 leaves of curly kale, cut from the stems and finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons raisins, soaked for an hour and roughly chopped
• 6 radishes, trimmed and finely diced
• 6 sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• Seeds of half a pomegranate (optional)

 
For the dressing

• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or rapeseed oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• Zest of ½ lime
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

For the garnish

• Half a handful of fresh dill or chervil, finely chopped (optional)
• Pumpkin seeds and a handful of walnuts, hazelnuts or pistachios
• A handful of sprouted seeds, I used green lentils!

 
Method

1. Rinse the wild rice in cold water a few times, place in a pan and cook according to the instructions. This normally takes 45 to 50 minutes depending on the variety. I used a mixture of brown basmati, red and wild rice. Once it’s cooked, drain, fluff up with a fork and allow to cool.
2. Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl or just put them in a glass jar, put the lid on and give it a good shake.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss well to mix evenly, just use your hands, it’s easier!
4. Add the dressing to the other ingredients and mix well.
5. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and chopped nuts. Walnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios all work well.

......your health in your hands.....