A few people asked me to post the recipe for the salad I brought to Gayle's party last month- sorry for the delay.
This is a recipe I made up and have never written down until now so I hope it makes some sense.
It looks complicated, but it is really easy if you space the prep over 3 days, and the salad benefits from a sit overnight.
Wild Rice Salad
Serves 16-20
1 Pkg Pearl Onions
1-2 Garlic Heads
¾ C Nuts (Pistachios, Slivered Almonds, Pecans etc)
2 Red Peppers or 2 jarred Roasted Peppers
1C Dried Sour Cherries or Cranberries, roughly chopped
3 Blood Oranges (or use regular Oranges)
3 Meyer Lemons
¼ C Sherry Vinegar
½ C Olive Oil
3Tbls Maple Syrup (or Brown Sugar) S&P
2C Wild Rice
1C Brown Rice
1 Bunch Scallions, sliced
1C Chopped Parsley
2-3 Tbls Fresh Thyme
2Days Before Service
Preheat oven to 425F
Wrap Garlic heads in foil with a little olive oil-Roast for 35 min. When cooled separate into cloves.
Place onions on baking sheet with a little oil- roast for 20-25 min.
Place nuts on baking sheet, roast for 12-15 minutes (until lightly toasted)
Char Peppers (if using fresh), when cooled skin, seed and slice into thin strips ½ inch long.
Refrigerate vegetables in airtight bags.
1 Day Before Service
Boil Wild Rice, covered, in 4 C water 25-35 minutes, until softened but still a bit chewy. Drain off water
Boil Brown Rice, covered, in 1 ¾ C water for 40-45 minutes until done. Water will be all absorbed.
While rice cooks make the dressing:
Zest 2 oranges and 2 lemons into mixing bowl.
Cut all fruit into supremes making sure to collect all juice. Put in bowl with zest.
Add syrup or sugar, oil, s&p and vinegar. Mix well.
The dressing should be quite citrusy and mildly acidic.
When rice is cooked and still warm place it in large mixing bowl and add dressing to taste and mix well.
Add Garlic Cloves, Pearl Onions, Rst. Peppers and Chopped Cherries.
Refrigerate overnite.
Right Before Service
Mix in Thyme, scallions, parsley and nuts.
This is a very forgiving recipe and can be changed at will, varying the nuts, herbs, fruits, etc. I think the next time I make it I will try using Burmese Black Rice instead of Brown.
For Gayle’s party, since we were showing off KY to Phil and Donna, I mixed in julienned Country Ham. In the past I have also used shredded Duck Confit.
Enjoy!
