Wild Rice Salad

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3 November 2021 BY Julie Biuso
SERVES: 6

What a riot of colour! Yep, this is the salad to make when someone says, ‘bring a salad’. It simply can’t be ignored on the table: exotic, smashing colours, a bowl of antioxidants that draws you in – and it tastes just as good as it looks.

And, yes, raw asparagus, go on, you can do it.

Ingredients

1 cup wild rice 3 cups water Salt and flaky sea salt 175g (6 oz) multi-coloured mini peppers, or 1 large yellow or red pepper (bell pepper / capsicum) 1 bunch (about 250g / 8 oz) purple or green asparagus 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil Finely grated zest 1 lemon 1½ Tbsp lemon juice 1 Tbsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard 1 Tbsp finely chopped hot red chilli 2 Tbsp finely chopped shallot Freshly ground black pepper 175g (6 oz) mixed cherry tomatoes ½ cup small basil leaves

Method

1 Put wild rice in a sieve and wash under running water. Tip rice into a bowl, cover with cold water and soak or 2 or more hours. (Soaking speeds up the cooking time but is not essential. Read about Wild Rice). Drain rice, tip it into a saucepan and add 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle boil, lower heat, cover pan with a lid and cook gently for 35-40 (or 45-60 minutes if unsoaked), or until the grains are no longer chalky; some grains will have burst open and that is normal.

2 Drain rice into a large sieve and let it cool for 10 minutes, then turn it onto a large tray to cool.

3 Halve peppers, deseeded and slice thinly. Wash and trim asparagus and slice thinly on the diagonal.

4 To make the dressing, whisk oil, lemon zest and juice, mustard, chilli and shallot with black pepper to taste and 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt (less if using regular salt). Add warm rice and toss gently with dressing. Add peppers and asparagus and toss well. The salad can be prepared 1 hour ahead to this point.

5 Before serving, halve tomatoes and add to salad. Taste and add more salt if desired Garnish with basil and serve.

Recipe Notes

If you are new to wild rice, read the notes Wild Rice. The grains are unpleasant to eat if served undercooked and chalky, but they must not be over-cooked or mushy.