Wild Rice Salad with Blood Orange and Pomegranate Balsamic Vinaigrette
My Mom gave me some wild rice from that she got from a friend in Minnesota, and I have been meaning to experiment with making some dishes with it. When reading a caption from the package of Singing Pines wild rice, I learned a little about the origin of this rice, and it peaked my curiosity.
August is called “manominikegississ” the month of the rice making moon. Traditionally, the Ojibway and Sioux Indians of Minnesota harvested the “mahomem” or wild rice with two people in a canoe. One person poled the boat through the rice bed, while the other, using sticks, knocked the rice kernels into the boat. The rice was then parched; the hulls removed and using a birch bark winnowing basket, the rice was separated from the chaff. The native peoples considered the mahomem a sacred gift from the Great Spirit or Creator.
My first attempt with cooking with the “caviar of all grains” was in the form of this August summer salad. I cooked the rice in my rice cooker, but you can follow the traditional directions to cook it. I also received a sweet and thoughtful gift from some friends for my birthday of flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils. Use what you have or go on a culinary treasure hunt to find some yummy varieties to use for your dressing.
For the salad:
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes. I used the yellow ones out of the garden.
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell pepper. Yellow would be pretty.
1 cup cucumber. I picked 12 of them from the garden this morning, so gotta use those up!
3 green onions. Those were from the garden too.
2 tbsp chopped fresh lemon basil. I grew this in the garden too, so finding in the store might be tough. I would substitute regular basil or cilantro. Experiment with your favorite fresh herbs. It can take you in a totally different direction!
For the dressing:
1 tbsp. garlic paste. Use fresh minced if you don’t have paste. Or try ginger!
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup pomegranate balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup blood orange infused olive oil
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing together and let sit till your ready to add them to the salad.
Cook the wild rice according to directions. You harvested your own from a canoe and need directions you say? Well, add 3 cups to a heavy saucepan and bring it to a boil, then add a cup of wild rice. Cover and reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until it is the texture you like. I put mine in the rice cooker and pressed the cook button…
Cool the rice add your veggies and toss with the dressing. Then eat the whole bowl!
