Blooming Wild Rice & Blackberry Salad

You don’t need to boil water to make blooming rice, which makes this salad a perfect choice for a hot, late-summer meal or potluck. You can bloom a batch of rice ahead of time and refrigerate it up to 5 days prior to making this salad or using it in other recipes.

*Bloomed Wild Rice: Rinse 1 cup uncooked, organic wild rice in a mesh strainer; place in a bowl and add purified water until there is at least 1 inch water above the rice. Let rice soak for 2–3 days until rice “blooms,” changing the water 1–2 times a day. The rice has bloomed when it is chewy and fluffy and the white interior of each grain opens.

Ingredients:

FOR THE SALAD:

Bloomed Wild Rice*

2 cups baby arugula
½ cup raw walnuts (or raw nut of choice)
½ cup roughly chopped fresh mint
½ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
⅓ cup thinly sliced shallots
1 cup whole blackberries (or substitute halved fresh cherries)
1 cucumber

FOR THE DRESSING:

2 Tbs. lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. raw honey
1 tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
⅓ cup cold-pressed olive oil

Directions:

1. Bloom wild rice 2–3 days before making salad.*
2. To make salad: Drain and rise the bloomed rice; place in a large bowl. Add arugula, nuts, mint, parsley, shallots and berries. Using a vegetable peeler, peel cucumber into long thin ribbons; add to bowl.
3. To make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, ginger, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Slowly add oil in a thin, steady stream, whisking continuously until emulsified. Pour dressing over salad mixture and toss to coat; serve immediately.

PER SERVING (1 cup): 292 cal, 18g fat (12g mono, 3g poly, 2g sat), 0mg chol, 397mg sodium, 29g carb (5g fiber, 5g sugars), 6g protein

SOURCE: The recipe by Carsen Snyder is posted by permission Delicious Living (and its parent company New Hope Network), a trusted voice in the natural living community for 30 years. Photo by Jennifer Olson.