Tuesday, February 23, 2010

North American Salad

Wild rice is a group of grasses that grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; and often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water. Wild rice is native to North America and is harvested as a grain. Wild rice has less calories, fat, carbohydrates and higher protein levels than brown rice. Sounds good to me!

While flipping through pages of Nigella Lawson's Feast, I couldn't help but take notice of her recipe for North American Salad. This recipe immediately stood out to me based solely on the beauty of the dish. A background of gorgeous black wild rice, with jewel-toned cranberries, flecks of vibrant green parsley, and chunks of golden pecans running throughout. This was the perfect recipe in celebration of great grains at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

Nigella says "Since this salad was made up by me in my kitchen in London, there is an argument that says it isn't remotely American, North or otherwise. But it seemed to me that a salad comprising turkey, wild rice, cranberries and pecans couldn't really go under any other name".

North American Salad
Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson
Serves 6-8, recipe can be halved

3 cups wild rice
1/2 cup dried sliced cranberries
4 cups diced cold turkey (I omitted the turkey this time around)
2 tablespoons cranberry sauce or jelly
2 tablespoons lime juice (I used lemon)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup halved pecans or pecan pieces (I recommend toasting the pecans)
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Cook the rice according to the package instructions, rinse and leave to cool. Add the dried cranberries and turkey to the cold, cooked rice. Make a dressing with the cranberry jelly, lime juice and oil by whisking everything together in a bowl. Toss the dressing through the rice, cranberries and turkey. Snap the pecans in half (or if using pieces leave as they are) and add to the salad with most of the parsley, turn out on to a plate or serving dish and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

NOTE: Reserve the pecans until ready to serve so that they remain crunchy.

Notes/Results: This was a very fun salad to make and it was also my first time cooking wild rice. This is an easy recipe, but takes some time to cook since the wild rice takes about 60 minutes on it's own. I thought this was a truly stunning salad that would be delicious with the diced turkey or on it's own. I also loved the flavors and textures in this recipe. The wild rice has quite a bite to it and goes well with the sweetness of the dried cranberries. Toasting and salting the pecans turned out to be a great and crunchy addition to this salad. I really loved this salad and enjoyed it even more knowing that it was good for me at the same time!

Head on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what everyone is cooking up in celebration of Great Grains!

29 comments:

  1. An absolutely delgithful salad Kim...sounds fantastic and would love to toss this one if could get hold of some wild rice out here.......

    also wanted to ask ya if ya know anyhting on blogger feeds-my feeds aint updating for the last 3 posts and have tried everything possible and googled awy to no avail.

    more than a week now and that makes me so sad :-(((((
    didn know that blogger chages the feed settings-my rss feed shows upto date content on their html page though!!!!!

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  2. I could totally get on board with this - looks fabulous!!! I may just have to give it a try.

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  3. Absolutely wonderful. I am not a huge salad person, but this is gorgeous and not a salad in the traditional lettuce sense.
    *kisses* HH

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  4. What a beautiful salad! Minnesotans do adore their wild rice wo definitely doing this - love that it hasn't been turned into a creamy casserole. Wild rice has the most pelasing unique crunchy flavor and this lets the rice shine.

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  5. Kim, I can not wait to try this incredible wild rice salad. A gourmet specially shop near where I use to live made one similar to this, but I never was able to duplicate.

    Thanks to you, I think I can now...

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  6. Oooh. This really is gorgeous and I can imagine how well all of these flavors and textures play together. Yum!

    I wanted to add...I've never actually tasted Steak and Shake chili...I just noticed that it is served in "ways". Sorry to group em' together. I didn't mean to insult THE Skyline. lol.

    Have a good week. I bet it's warmer down South. : ) I am so over all of this shovelling.

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  7. I love wild rice w/ pecans. Adding turkey and cranberries is an excellent idea. Great for using up Thanksgiving leftovers and turning them into something really special. I also like to see wild rice as part of a substantial dish. An hour is more than I usually like to spend on a side dish!

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  8. I love the ingredients and I can see why this made you take notice. I'm taking notice too! Thumbs up from me and I'll be trying this one. Off to the printer for this recipe!

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  9. Oh this salad's got all my favorite ingredients. :) Sounds and looks amazing, Kim!

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  10. mmm that looks wholesome and really delish

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  11. What an unusual salad - I can't remember the last time I had wild rice, but didn't know that it is considered a grain, not an actual type of rice.

    Hey, I learned something new today!

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  12. This looks like an excellent combination, flavorful with a great variety of textures.

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  13. Kim, That looks amazing! I have to try it...perfect for my lunch!

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  14. wow great salad love the color I need to eat more wild rice

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  15. Fabulous recipe. I love wild rice and think it matches so well with the dried fruit in a salad. Nigella always comes up with winners!

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  16. I love wild rice! This recipe looks so elegant and healthy at the same time. Beautiful.

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  17. how fun! i've never had anything like this before, i love the idea of a salad with wild rice. great recipe!

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  18. I really love the crunch of wild rice...I definitely don't cook it enough. It just goes to show you that at it's roots, America has some pretty good cuisine...that extends much farther than burgers and hot dogs. This salad is gorgeous!

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  19. Great salad! I haven't had wild rice in a while - I absolutely love it. Perfect pick for Great Grains!
    Next week we start voting on the next chef at IHCC - so exciting!

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  20. I was thinking of throwing together a pasta dish very similar to this - but wild rice sounds even better. I really love everything about this!

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  21. oooh does that sound extra yummy with all my favorites

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  22. I love wild rice and usually add a little bit to any rice dish because of the color and I love the nutty flavor!

    Gorgeous salad and one I know I would enjoy!

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  23. Wild rice is a great grain for sure! Your salad looks delicious--love the cranberries and pecans. A perfect pick!

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  24. Good call leaving the turkey out. I think it looks perfect the way it is.

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  25. This look just beautiful! I bet the texture on this is just out of this world with the pecans and cranberries. Definately going in my list of recipes to try!

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  26. This looks and sounds like a wonderful salad. It's a perfect pick to serve with poultry or pork of any kind. Have a lovely day.

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  27. What a GREAT selection Kim! I haven't participated this week in the I Heart group, so I'm getting to read yours and others' recipes! This looks OH SO HEALTHY TOO! Hey, I'm down 18 pounds today and so this recipe will continue to help me reach my goal! Thanks so much for posting it! Take care, Roz

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  28. I love wild rice. Red rice is very good too, which takes a while to cook as well. Very colorful photo, good job!

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  29. Yum! I've got this recipe bookmarked in my copy of Feast and have yet to make it. I still have some jarred homemade cranberry sauce from last year waiting for good use. This may be it!

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