Maggie's Wild Rice Salad

A new semester of classes starts next week for me. I've met my incoming first-year advisees. Shana's new job has started. We have had the windows open more regularly because the weather has been cooler and less humid. My dad was talking about the ripening acorn squash in his garden. All of this indicates that summer is winding down. However, if you're not quite ready to let go of summer, with its hot days and more relaxed schedule, have I got a recipe for you.

I've been meaning to make this wild rice salad all summer (what can I say, Minnesotans love wild rice), but never got around to it for one reason or another. But yesterday we went to a pot-luck for a colleague's birthday and I needed something I didn't have to prepare immediately ahead of time. This was just occasion for wild rice salad, as it can chill for a few hours before you serve it.

We arrived to the pot luck, salad in hand, and it was gobbled up in short order. I did get a serving of it for myself, but I also wondered why I didn't make more of it. It made me realize why my mom often doubled the recipe when she brought it places. In any event, this salad is a wonderful warm-weather food and an excellent vegan option for a pot luck!

Maggie's Wild Rice Salad
Ingredients
1 c. uncooked wild rice
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium head broccoli, in small florets
8 oz. balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing (see Helpful Hints)

Directions
1. Rinse and drain the rice, then cook according to package directions. Drain and let cool.
2. Toast the walnuts until lightly browned, let cool.
3. Combine rice, walnuts, veggies and 4-5 oz. vinaigrette in a bowl, stir well.
4. Chill at least three hours.
5. Just before serving, pour on remainder of vinaigrette, stirring to combine.

Helpful Hints

• If you use a gluten-free and soy-free salad dressing, this is a very "food needs sensitive" dish. 
• Speaking of salad dressings, my preference for this is Newman's Own Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette. This is NOT soy-free, but it IS gluten-free. You can also make your own, if you have a balsamic vinaigrette that you really like. 
• The original recipe I have for this salad from my mother also includes halved red grapes. I enjoy them in this dish, but find that people are often more skeptical of a rice salad that has onions and grapes in it. Onions alone, they get. Grapes alone, they get. But together? Anyway, I leave them out most of the time. 

The post "Maggie's Wild Rice Salad" originally appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.