November 13, 2008

Wild Rice Salad with Cashews and Lemon-Mint Dressing

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I took this amazing cooking class instructed by Omid Roustaei, (who is also a personal chef) a few weeks back. As healthy and nutritious as all his creations that day were, there was one particular dish that caught my attention "The wild rice salad".
It was a sensual burst of flavors in my mouth, almost like a perfect medley of sweet, bitter, nutty and every bit pleasantly Herby.

Wild rice is a different variety of rice that grows in water, and only the flowering part is above the water. It is black in color and high in protein, amino acids and dietary fiber, and low in fat. Gluten-free like every other rice.
They are normally used in sync with other rices and sold like a medley, but they can be brought separately too, and can be used in salads like these. They are harder than normal rice, and thus takes longer to cook.
I don't use wild rice on a regular basis, so got what I needed in the bulk section of the grocery store, that works out cheaper too.

The original recipe called for cranberries which I omitted, added green bell peppers, and subtituted zucchini with raw mangoes. And it turned out just the way I liked it.
Mangoes did add its own magic to the whole salad. It is a must try. And super healthy too.

Wild Rice Salad with Cashews and Lemon-Mint Dressing

Ingredients:

Salad:
Wild rice -1 cup
Vegetable broth - 2 1/4 cups
Raddichio/any bitter greens - 1/2 cup
Raw mango - 1 small (diced) (Could substitute this with zucchini)
Red pepper - 1 (diced)
Green bell pepper - 1 small (diced)
Carrot - 1 (diced)
Roasted salted cashew nuts - 1/2 cup
Salt - To taste

Dressing:
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Lemon juice - From 2 large lemons
Garlic - 4 cloves (finely chopped)
Mint - 1 bunch chopped
Pepper - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

In a cooking pot, combine wild rice, salt and broth and bring to to a boil. Simmer, and cover. Cook for about 40 - 60 min or till the grain is soft.
I used a rice cooker to cook the wild rice, so did not have to keep checking.
Cool completely.

In another large bowl, mix all the ingredients listed in the dressing section.

To this add the cooled wild rice, the rest of the vegetables, (except cashews), salt and pepper and let it sit for an hour in the refrigerator.

Just before serving add the roasted cashew nuts and serve.

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

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This goes to:

Sangeeth's Eat Healthy Fight Diabetes event
Srivalli's Rice mela event
Kimi's Nourishing Holiday Food event
Ivy's World Food Day event
Suganya's Vegan Ventures event

61 comments:

  1. If I can ask...what is wild rice? pardon my ignorance and enlighten me plz..otherwise the pics are very inviting...

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  2. Wow, what a salad! Looks so rich and mouth-watering. A bowl of super health is tempting me to finish it!

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  3. The wild rice has never intrigued me :( But seeing ur picture and description I would like to give a try :) Very attractive salad!

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  4. looks gorgeous :-) love the addition of the cashews and wild rice is always great

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  5. Looks absolutely delectable and the color is very inviting.

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  6. Wow. It looks so delicious. Full of flavor and textures.

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  7. That looks too good and sure healthy Divya.. And breathtaking pics!

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  8. colouful salad anu...looks yummy

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  9. Awesome pics.. did u click after chatting with me.. hehe. enna ennamo panni kalaku.. salad looks yummy.

    Chithra Viswanathan is an experienced cook. she posts variety of dishes in indusladies.com. her recipes are too good and i am a follower of her.

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  10. Looks healthy, yummy and tempting.

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  11. Bowl of salad looks very inviting and utterly delicious....

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  12. I can imagine the burst of flavours....looks ver appealing to me.

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  13. Looks very nice and rich! Hope you are fixed with lighting problem:)

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  14. Love the flavors used in this salad,looks colorful...Divya, I tried your semolina bread a few days back and it came out wonderfully, we loved it, will be posting it with a link back to yours by the end of the week...

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  15. I have had something like this but nothing with cashew toppings now I got the recipe :)

    Got something for you check out.

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  16. Exotic healthy wild rice salad:)

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  17. Exotic.I have never used wild rice.Your pics are droolworthy.Nice to know you attend such classes.Here I am stuck being lazy and lazy.

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  18. I have never tried black rice,this looks so good,I especially like the dressing.

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  19. I have never cooked with wild rice. The picture has inspired me to give it a try. Time for me to buy wild rice...

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  20. That looks great divya...and I think this will be a great one for rice mela...:)

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  21. Healthy recipe as always and with mangoes is worth the try.
    I guess the tips has indeed helped you. I find a difference in your pictures....is it true???

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  22. wow such a rich salad and the nut garnished invites me to pick. beautiful color and healthy post indeed.

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  23. Hey divya that nice to know that u started going to classes....so am waiting for ur innovative recipes dear......and at the ssame time sad that everybody around me is working round the clock learning sth....and me jst a lazy bug:(

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  24. Wow Divya!!!!!! Neva really tried wild rice.....Your blog is inspiring me to do it....
    Keep rocking gurl!

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  25. Colourful salad...healthy salad with bunch of awesome ingredients...glad to know that u r going to classes...

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  26. This looks leafy, greeny and nutritrious salad...thanks for sharing...

    Now you are too quick.....before I could come and intimate you about the award you have already picked up the same...:)

    Yes I was made to do 7 things......I would love others to go through same ;)

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  27. Oh my god, that looks amazing! I LOVE wild rice and green mangoes (although i wouldnt touch a ripe mango). The lemon-mint dressing sounds great, im defenitely trying this!

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  28. attractive salad...whats wild rice?..is there anything tht v can add on behalf of that?

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  29. I simply love the texture of wild rice.. that salad looks lovely.

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  30. I love the way wild rice feels in my mouth. What an awesome combination... mangoes, nuts and all things nice.

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  31. very interesting recipe..would love to try it sometime..

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  32. That is such a different way of using rice. Gotta try this salad.The addition of cashews make it more tempting. :-)

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  33. Sorry im new the term wild rice wat is this.. phtos look so inviting..:)

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  34. all ur recipes r unique..........keep it up.just saute appalam for kulambu no need to deepfry...

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  35. I have something for u in my blog..pls check it out..http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/11/awards-time.html

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  36. Salad looks absolutely delicious!

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  37. Lovely clicks. Very yummy looking dish. Will definitely give it a try.

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  38. A surprise for you in my blog:)

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  39. No Anu..sorry i have completely forgotten to add ur name, as i was in hurry,..pls collect those awards...

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  40. salad looks great, and the creative combinations of rice,mangoes,cashews is very appealing to me..
    hugs and smiles

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  41. mmm...fabulous combination of tastes and textures! this is one salad that would keep my belly satisfied for the day!

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  42. Yo Anuvidya - This salad looks super delicious!
    Can I steal a whole bowl!
    and nutritious too!

    I need to get into this salad.

    Gosh - need to add you to my blogroll, so I remember to check you site out regularly

    PS - CAPTCHAs trip me up!

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  43. I love wild rice and ur recipe rock. Looks and sounds delicious!!!Yummm entry!!

    I posted an event for Children's Day event on my blog, plz participate!!! Here's link..

    http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/2008/11/celebrating-childrens-day-event.html

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  44. i love the picture .. a healthy bowl

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  45. Looks so very tempting! But, I know I don't even need to think about it, I had once tried to make it before. I even mixed it with white basmati ric, but my hubby ...buh huu huu! I don't know just to make it for me aloe is too much of an effort. sob... sob!
    BTW, pictures look great!
    Now, out with your tricks! ;)

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  46. One more thing: there is something for yu at my blog, come and pick it please. :)

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  47. Hi Anu ..
    The salad looks great ..Great work
    love
    veena

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  48. Thanks very much for participating in the WFD - "Time to be Thankful" Event. Although I never had wild rice before it sure sounds delicious with all those ingredients.

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  49. Priya, Raaji, Curry Leaf - Guys, I don't go to classes on a regular basis. This was an exception since I got the opportunity to attend.

    Arunshanbhag & Srivalli - Removed the word verification. The moment I get spammed, I am bringing it back on :)

    Suma and Sangeeth (and everyone who wanted to know what wild rice was) - Updated in the post section, pls check.

    Suma - Any hard grained rice would work, but unfortunately I don't know of any rice that holds its shape as good as wild rice. You could give it a try with other varieties though!

    Special thanks to everyone who bestowed me with awards!

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  50. Please visit my place for a treat:

    http://teluguruchi.blogspot.com/2008/11/old-post-and-some-sweet-surprises.html

    I know you already got these, still...I wish to treat you as well.

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  51. Please check my blog, I have something for you :)

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  52. Gorgeous. I've not seen very many recipes for wild rice out of the soup realm. This looks very yummy though.

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  53. A surprise for you in my blog:)

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  54. Looks awesome, and colourful.
    Ramkumar

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  55. Anu
    plz collect ur awards frm my blog
    http://curryworld.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/rave-dosa/

    love
    veena

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  56. That salad looks so delicious and juicy. I have never had wild rice before, now its on my grocery list.

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  57. Mmmm, looks great. I will be trying this out before Thanksgiving and will substitute Swiss Chard (which is prolific in the garden) for the greens and perhaps pommegr. seeds for the mango. Looking forward to giving this a try...thanks for the inspiration.

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  58. First time to ur blog...ur blog is really nice. I am from minnesota and was looking for wild rice recipe from long time...this is perfect for me.

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  59. AnonymousJuly 09, 2010

    great post

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Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. I will try to respond to queries as soon as I can. If I miss anything that needs to be addressed... please feel free to ping me again.
Happy cooking/baking or whatever it is you are doing in the kitchen! :)