I love this wild rice recipe and often serve it as a side dish for a summer vegan barbeque when fresh corn is available. Using fresh corn versus frozen makes a big difference in the texture and sweetness of this salad and I highly recommend making this dish when fresh corn is readily available. This salad is easy to make ahead of time and honestly tastes better after a day of letting the vinaigrette settle into the rice. If you make this ahead of time, take it out of the refrigerator a few hours before serving to allow the salad to get to room temperature. The citrus dressing, combined with the fennel, is a flavorful combination. And trust me on the fresh corn…it is a game changer.
Wild Rice Salad
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 3 ears of corn, kernels cut off
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. chopped chives
- 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 small bunch scallions, white part, thinly sliced
- 6 cups baby greens
Instructions:
Mix the wild and the brown rice together in a large bowl. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 7 to 10 minutes, or until they smell toasty. Let them cool a few minutes, then rub them in a kitchen towel to remove most of the skin. It’s totally fine is there are some pieces of skin that won’t come off. Roughly chop hazelnuts, leaving in larger pieces.
Blanch the corn kernels in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Drain thoroughly and add to rice. Add the red onion, fennel, scallions and chives to the rice.
Prepare the vinaigrette next.
Citrus-Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. finely chopped orange zest
- 6 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar juice
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- ½ cup olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 Tbsp. fennel leaves, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. Italian Parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp. honey
Whisk everything together…
Add half of the vinaigrette to rice and mix well. Continue adding vinaigrette in little amounts until it is to your liking. Add chopped hazel nuts (save some to garnish the top) and mix well. Place greens on a large serving platter. Mound the rice salad on top of the greens and garnish with hazelnuts. If you aren’t a big fan of hazelnuts, pecans make a nice alternative and taste equally good in this recipe.
