Fruited Wild Rice Salad

For the past five months I have been working on a nutrition workshop for Anoka Hennepin School District and have been consciously eating more whole grains. (We need to eat three servings of whole grains a day.)  This salad is perfect as it combines whole grains and fruit and doesn’t “taste healthy!”

I served this to my Dinner Club and noticed they all “cleaned their plates.”

Dinner Club enjoying the Fruited Wild Rice Salad . . . The Clean Plate Club was a good thing!

2 cups cooked wild rice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
½ cup dried cherries
1 cup green grapes, cut in half
1 cup red grapes, cut in half
¼ cup toasted slivered almonds
Clementines or orange sections for garnish

Combine all ingredients. Allow to sit for 1 hour before you serve it. Save some dried cherries to garnish the top. Garnish with orange sections.

Makes 8 ½ cup servings.

If you want a quicker 5 ingredient recipe there is one for Wild Rice with Cherries in our Five Ingredients for Healthy Living Cookbook.

Wild Rice with Cherries Ingredients
Wild Rice With Cherries

More About Wild Rice

Wild rice is actually a grass that grows in shallow water. Its thin dark grains have a stronger flavor  than white or brown rice and a crisper texture. It is low in fat and high in fiber. It is an excellent source of B vitamins and is rich in zinc and potassium. One cup of cooked wild rice contains.

Stovetop Method

Place 1 cup washed wild rice in saucepan. Add 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 40 to 50 minutes. Drain any excess liquid. Try not to overcook as the rice will lose it’s texture and become soft.  Makes about 3 to 4 cups cooked wild rice. One pound of wild rice equals 20 ½ cup servings.

Oven Method

Combine 1 cup washed rice with 3 cups water in a covered 2 quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350°F oven for one hour.  Check wild rice. Add more water if needed. Wild rice should be moist not dry.

Prepare  double what you need and freeze a batch. Use for wild rice soup (Brett’s favorite) or wild rice burgers. A recipe I want to try is Wild Rice Pudding.