Mushroom Wild Rice Salad

I'm back from Scotland and ready to catch up on some old posts! And also my actual work.

(Oh, and check out this post from bittersweet on famous dishes in literature!)

This wild rice salad was delicious. Zippy actually said it was one of her favorite things I had ever made. And I actually wrote down the measurements... only to lose them. Until the errant paper shows up again, here's the outline of what I did.

This recipe pairs chewy wild rice and mushrooms with crunchy bits of scallion and almond. I've made versions of it forever; I think it's actually based on a childhood version that had chicken and canned mandarin oranges. Orange juice is subtler here, and (along with some vinegar) adds a bit of the zing to balance out the meatiness of the rice and mushrooms. I cooked the mushrooms separately with garlic, to make sure they had the right taste and texture before adding them to the mix. The rest is mostly tweaking: a bit of acidity, a bit of oil, a bit of salt, etc., til it tastes right. And, undoubtedly, it will taste even better the following day.

Mushroom Wild Rice Salad

Ingredients

1 c wild rice

water

pinch salt

1 bay leaf

*

small handful dried mushrooms, reconstituted in water and drained, then chopped

olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

pinch salt

*

orange juice

white wine vinegar

olive oil

scallions, minced

black pepper

salt

*

toasted sliced almonds

Instructions

1. Cook rice with bay leaf and salt until tender. Set aside and cool.
2. Saute mushrooms in olive oil with garlic. Remove from heat and cool.
3. Combine remaining dressing ingredients.
4. Toss rice and mushrooms in a large bowl. Toss with dressing until coated but not soupy. Adjust seasonings to taste and add almonds.  Serves about 4.