Wild Rice Salad – Scrumptious, Bursting with citrus flavors, Loaded with Vitamin C rich Kale and Vitamin A rich Carrots, lots of Pecans and cranberries for extra crunch and taste, Vegan Salad recipe that can be enjoyed at any time of the year.
Wild Rice Salad is all about color and texture.
Have you tried Wild rice? I have tried it in Wild Rice Mushroom Soup recipe and I’m hooked.
Wondering what is Wild Rice?
Wild rice is not actual rice. Its a whole grain which is very nutritious with lots of health benefits has more protein per serving than brown rice, is naturally gluten-free, its chewy, nutty and hearty.
Wild Rice Salad Recipe
This is the best Super Food Salad recipe I have ever made. You can serve it warm or cold salad that’s why it’s perfect for any time of the year be it Winter, Summer, Autumn or Spring!!
Wild Rice Salad is wholesome and filling with plenty of Kale and carrots. It is also a great healthy weekday option.
This vegan Wild Rice Salad recipe is perfect for any of your holiday entertaining.
This would be a great take to work lunch too.
How to make Wild Rice Salad?
This recipe has 4 steps.
1. Cook Wild rice.
I have cooked wild rice in my Instant Pot. Cooking Wild Rice in Instant Pot is so easy and takes very less time than stove top method. For the salad, Wild Rice to water ration in Instant Pot is 1:3 and cooking time is 30 minutes under high pressure followed by Natural release.
I prefer to finish all my other steps while the rice is cooking.
2. The second step is to Make a Dressing.
Making homemade salad dressings is easy, quick and 100% better than store bought.
Its citrus season in Arizona. So, My fruit basket is filled with oranges, lemons, and grapefruits. Orange Juice makes a great base for salad dressings. One of my favorite way to use citrus in cooking is making salad dressing with it.
Today, I made simple and easy Wild Rice salad dressing – Orange Vinaigrette.
I love Orange Vinaigrette. The base of this salad dressing is Orange Juice. It’s naturally sweet so you need a very little amount of additional sweetener.
To make this Orange Vinaigrette, Other than Orange juice, I have used Shallots, garlic, orange zest, balsamic vinegar, salt, vegan mayo, pepper powder, extra virgin olive oil, and Honey or agave.
3. The third step is, Chopping Veggies and gather other ingredients.
I have used Kale as a green and some grated carrots.
For kale, Remove the leafy parts from the stems and chop finely. Because Kale is tougher than the most greens, so chopping it finely is the best.
For carrots, I have used grated carrots. You can also chop into small pieces and use them.
Other ingredients needed in this wild rice salad is Pecans and Cranberries. They give very crunch in every bite.
4. The last step is to Mix everything together. And its done!
The beauty of this salad is, It can be made ahead of time. To make this salad in advance, you’ll want to cook the wild rice beforehand. You can also chop the veggies and whisk the dressing ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.
You can store all these in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.
This recipe can easily be doubled.
Do give this Salad recipe a try. Seriously, it’s so delicious with incredible flavors and textures.
More Vegetarian Salad Recipes On the Blog –
Quinoa Black Bean Salad
Wild Rice Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup – Uncooked wild rice
- 2 cups – Chopped Kale Take out the hard stems
- 1 cup – Grated Carrots
- 1 Cup – Pecans
- ½ cup – Dried cranberries
- Mint leaves for Garnishing
For Dressing
- 1 small – shallots peeled and grated
- ½ teaspoon – Grated Garlic
- ¾ cup – Fresh Orange Juice
- 1 teaspoon – Orange Zest
- 2 tablespoon – Balsamic Vinegar
- ½ – teaspoon – Salt
- ½ teaspoon – Black Pepper Powder
- 1 tablespoon – Vegan Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon – Agave
- ¼ cup – Extra virgin Olive oil
Instructions
- Wash Wild rice twice with water. Drain the extra water.
- Take washed wild rice in Instant Pot. Add 3 cups of water.
- Cover the lid and cook it on high pressure for 30 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Take it out from the Instant Pot and drain all the excess water. Let it cool down.
Wild rice on a stove top
- Boil 1 liter of water in large saucepan. Add rice, lower heat so it’s simmering gently. Cover then cook for an hour, or until rice is tender but not super soft (some will burst). Drain them.
For Dressing
- Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a big bowl and whisk very well.
Combine all the ingredients
- Take Cooked wild rice, Kale grated carrots, pecans, and Cranberries in a big mixing bowl.
- Add Orange Vinaigrette, as much or as little as you like.
- Toss them very well.
- Wild Rice Salad is ready. Garnish it with Chopped mint leaves.
Notes
Nutrition
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I could eat this salad anytime of the year! So hearty and delicious:) Love that citrus dressing!
I made this as a rehearsal for Christmas Dinner side dish. A beautiful big bowl as a dinner salad. Absolute Keeper. We loved it.
so glad to hear this.