Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Wild Rice, Celery and Walnut Salad - Outdoor Wednesday







From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Last summer I had the opportunity to tour a local farm where wild rice is grown. While the Willamette Valley is beautiful, heavy clay soil restricts what can be grown here. Fortunately, the damp clay of the valley floor is perfect for growing grasses and wild rice is, as you know, a water-grass. Years ago a grain specialist at Oregon State University, tossed a handful of wild rice seeds into a pond behind his home to see if they would grow in this climate. A year later he had wild rice in his yard and published an article about it. As a result of the article, some far-thinking farmers planted a water-grass crop and the state's wild rice industry was born. At the moment our wild rice is still under water. In late April or early May, sprouts emerge from the water and rest on its surface. It looks a bit like seaweed at this point. Come June, the rice goes through a growth spurt and begins to stand erect. It will grow until it's about 6 feet tall and set flowers sometime in July. When the flowers set seed, the fields in which the rice grows are drained and the crop is mechanically harvested. Combined rice is allowed to ferment before it's de-hulled, dried, sorted and packaged for sale to locavores. Now the only problem is what to do with it. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of recipes for wild rice available to us. I found the recipe for this salad in the New York Times. I've modified it over and over again and have finally come up with something I really like. This recipe can also be used for brown rice, should you prefer it. The salad should be served at room temperature. Here's the recipe.

Wild Rice, Celery and Walnut Salad...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, inspired by Martha Rose Shulman and the New York Times

Ingredients:
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup wild rice, rinsed
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup broken and toasted walnut pieces or 1 cup candied walnuts
1-1/4 cups thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
Salad Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup walnut oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons low-fat yogurt

Directions:
1) Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Add salt and wild rice. Simmer, covered, for 40 minutes, or until rice is tender and splayed. Drain. Toss with walnuts, celery and parsley.
2) To make salad dressing, place lemon juice, garlic,salt, pepper, sugar, walnut oil, olive oil and yogurt in a jar with a lid. Shake until combined. Pour over wild rice mixture and toss to mix. Adjust seasonings to taste. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Bulgur Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
Warm Asian Rice Salad
Asian Bean Sprout Salad

This is being linked to:
Outdoor Wednesday - A Southern Daydreamer

38 comments :

KathyB. said...

This is just the kind of salad I could eat every day. It looks so good!

Ruby said...

looks very yummy!

Unknown said...

You make really lovely salads!

Well, you make lovely everything! But when I look at this, the thought that comes to mind is:
You make really lovely salads!

Allie and Pattie said...

Mary, this is a lovely salad. I always loved the recipes from the Times and LI Newsday. I'm saving this one for summer- thank you
xoxo Pattie

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

A fantastic delicious salad ...love that green n gold pics of the swaying fields.......

Beverly said...

Mary, this is so interesting, and the salad looks delicious.

And, yesterday's catfish dish has me licking my lips.

I am just back to work this week. It had been so long since I felt like visiting anyone, and I really missed everyone very much.

Unknown said...

Looks and sounds delicious. And I'm fascinated that someone just threw some wild rice into a pond to see if the rice would grow there.

Lea Ann said...

I could eat that every day, and probably SHOULD eat it every day. Healthy and beautiful.

Ashlie and Alfred said...

I really like wild rice, but I have a difficult time finding pure wild rice - as opposed to mixtures of white rice and wild rice. I might have to try this with brown rice, it sounds very yummy.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

How fun to visit where rice is grown. I've seen rice growing in Texas and it covers further than the eye can see.

I really like wild rice. It has such a rich flavor but I somehow forget to use it very often. We normally eat brown rice. You're reminded me to buy a box of wild rice.
Sam

Rebecca said...

Walnut oil + yogurt in the dressing = sounds fabulous! The pictures you captured look enticing :) I will try this as soon as I get back to Minnesota!

Claudia said...

We Minnesotans are quite fond of wild rice! Always loiking for new ways to prepare it. Love the salad - the nutty rice with walnuts!

Cathy said...

I'm very fond of wild rice and especially like the addition of a good amount of celery. This is a lovely combination of flavors and textures, Mary. I'll look forward to trying it.

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

I really like wild rice and this is a recipe I am excited to try!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Ashlie, wild rice can be ordered on-line and delivered to your home.

Elisa said...

I've never seen wild rice grow, but sounds like it's easy to grow. The salad looks healthy and delicious and I like the dark contrast of the rice.

as always nice recap on the history of wild rice in Oregon.

Zurin said...

A beautiful salad Mary!! i must try wild rice one day....it sounds good.^^

George Gaston said...

Mary, this looks like a wonderful salad. I love the texture that both the wild rice and celery gives to this dish. I can't wait to try it. Many thanks...

La Bella Cooks said...

So very healthy! I love those long grains of the wild rice. How fun to have toured the farm, lucky lady.

Mary @ Framed and Tagged said...

Looks good enough to eat!..:-)
Very healthy too...I would love to your neighbor!


Happy OW!!

Luciana said...

This salad looks very very good and delicious...I love salads...Bye..Luciana

Cakebrain said...

This looks so healthy! but delicious too! I really need to incorporate wild rice into salads more often. Thanks for reminding me!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Beautiful salad Mary and I enjoyed the wild rice story that went along with it. Great idea to carry the walnut flavor into the salad dressing.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

Looks fabulous... sorry I haven't been around for awhile, I moved to the US Virgin Islands (I still giggle when I say that) for six months, and it is taking awhile to get settled. But i do think I am caught up, and will be back with new postings...

Come take a look at my new blogs of Island life!

Hope the shoulder is back together... someday we need to compare notes on how you did shopping in "exotic" locals

Barbara said...

I love wild rice, Mary! Interesting the dressing has a little sugar as well as yogurt and walnut oil. Sounds delicious! I make a wild rice salad with some dried cherries in it and nuts, but have always thought the dressing boring. Think I will combine our two recipes and see what I end up with!

Coralie Cederna Johnson said...

What an interesting story of the start of a wild rice patch! The salad looks wonderful too! Thanks for stopping by...always a pleasure!

Together We Save said...

Sounds so yummy!!

Chatty Crone said...

Okay this looks good enough to eat - yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you have some American Indian - that is way cool too.

I LOVE YOUR FOOD AND YOUR PICTURES!

Sandie

bj said...

This sounds devine, Mary!!

Lyndas recipe box said...

This is a lovely salad, Mary.I just bought a wild rice blend and I think it would work for this recipe.
How cool that you are growing wild rice; hopefully you will be able to find more ways to use this delicious rice.

NKP said...

Beautiful! Wild rice is very popular in Canada too, thanks to the Native population.

Deb in Hawaii said...

So fun to be able to visit the farm! The salad looks delicious--the celery and walnuts must give it a wonderful texture!

♥ Kathy said...

Walnuts are so good in so many things :)

life, in recipes said...

i make something very similar, but with dried cherries soaked in port (in addition to the celery) and almonds instead of walnuts. so good! your photos are beautiful!

Kim said...

These pictures are utterly gorgeous! Too funny - I just posted about wild rice too. I served mine with cranberries and pecans. This looks delicious too!

Janice said...

Can you tell I'm working backwards through my Google Reader? I love the look of this salad, wild rice is so delicious and has a special texture all of it's own. I also love celery and walnuts so this would be a perfect salad for me. I am saving this recipe for sure.

Katy ~ said...

Excellent salad recipe, certainly one to try and to love. Thank you for this as I needed more recipes for versatility and choice in using wild rice.

http://www.erikorganic.com/dining-room/dining-room-table.shtml said...

I think I really should stop hating celery! This is good. I tried it and I find it nice.

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