Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries & Pecans

Name: Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries & Pecans
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 2/3 cups wild rice or wild rice blend (we used Lundberg wild rice blend (This translates to 5 cups cooked)); 1/2 cup dried cranberries; 1/2 cup dried apricots (cut into bite size pieces); 1/2 cup pecan halves (broken into pieces); 1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios; 1/2 cup celery (diced); 1/4 cup red onion (diced); 1/4 cup green part of green onions (sliced thin); 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon honey; 1 clove garlic (minced); 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste -- NOTE: the pistachios we used were salted; use more salt if unsalted pistachios); 1/8 teaspoon pepper or more to taste

A hearty rainbow salad that works equally well for lunch or a holiday table. It's a great mix of flavors and textures -- savory, sweet, tangy, earthy, just a little bit of crunch and delish!

Easy, Fresh, Flavorful and a Total Crowd Pleaser!

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New! I’ve added a cooking video to this page so you can see how easy it is to make this gluten-free Wild Rice Salad.

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Enjoy!

Update Thanksgiving 2020: This is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish that doesn’t require any oven space!

Let’s face it, even with a smaller gathering, oven space is at a premium on Thanksgiving. So what better than a festive and crowd-pleasing dish that doesn’t need to be heated?

Hope you love it as much as we do!

Original post…

This gluten-free Wild Rice Salad was originally developed as a Fall salad… it’s bursting with gorgeous Fall colors and is both a perfect transition to Fall and perfect on a holiday table.

We very quickly learned that we love it all Winter long too, as it’s fresh but hearty so super satisfying without being heavy!

This colorful salad is bursting with an amazing mix of flavors & textures, is super easy to whip together and it’s the type of salad that pairs with everything.

It’s simply:

wild rice
a ton of diced vegetables and dried fruit
all tossed in a Lemon-Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette.

It’s packed with flavor but no one flavor is overpowering, so it’s satisfying and crowd pleasing.

Seriously this salad has it all!

It’s savory, a touch sweet, a touch tangy, earthy and has just a bit of crunch. And with all this happening it is addictively delicious!

And it’s super simple to prepare.

All you need is:

Wild Rice

Dried cranberries

Pecans

Pistachios

Dried apricots

Celery

Red onion

Green onion and

and easy Lemon Honey Dijon Vinaigrette (see details below)

It has an amazing mix of flavors and textures but it beautifully balanced and no one flavor stands out.

It’s just fresh, satisfying and delicious!

And it comes together quickly.

While the rice cooks, you dice and measure out the other ingredients and whisk together the simple dressing.

For the Lemon Honey Dijon Dressing, you’ll need:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Red wine vinegar

Lemon Juice

1 garlic clove

Dijon Mustard

Salt & Pepper

And you simply whisk all the ingredients together, and it’s so delicious!

The salad itself is served cold or room temperature so it is as great for lunches as it is for a holiday table, where it’s nice to have at least one dish that doesn’t require reheating!

Pro Tip: when I make it as part of meal prep I will often keep the dressing separate and add as needed.

And with this dressing, a little goes a long way!

Recipe based on a variety of similar salads including a local takeout restaurant Garlick and Herb, The View from Great Island, Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body and the LA Times.

Hope you love it as much as we do!

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