Wild Rice Cranberry Pecan Salad

(This post has been updated here)

I served this salad as a trial run at my party Sunday night...the real event is Hilary's graduation/Christmas party this coming Sunday for over 100 people. Needless to say, I will have to make a very large batch!

I bought a wild rice and brown basmati rice blend in the bulk section of Whole Foods. Both are whole grains. If you can't find a blend, just substitute brown rice and wild rice in a 3:1 ratio (¾ cup brown and ¼ cup wild).

This is meant to be a side dish and therefore it makes 10 small servings...you could add some lean protein to it (chopped chicken or turkey) and serve it as a main course. In that case, I would figure 5 or 6 servings.

Wild Rice Cranberry Pecan Salad

adapted from simplyrecipes.com

Makes 10 ½-cup servings

1 cup brown rice wild rice mix

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped

½ cup green onions, thinly sliced

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Salt and pepper

Cook rice according to package instructions, omitting fat and adding 1/2 tsp salt. Here is the method I used:

Rinse rice. Put all ingredients (1 cup rice, 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp salt) in pot with tight-fitting lid. Stir, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Do not remove lid. Remove from heat and allow to sit covered for 10 minutes. Then uncover, fluff with a fork, and let cool to almost room temperature.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the cooled rice, cranberries, pecans, and green onions.

In a separate jar, mix the lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste.

Combine dressing with the rice mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve warm, chilled, or room temperature.

Per serving - 168 calories, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 19 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3g protein (exchanges: 2 fat, 1 starch)

Notes - You could swap the lemon juice and zest for orange; omitting all or half of the pecans would save a few fat grams; this salad is more of a method than a recipe...you could substitute any of the ingredients (a different grain, nut, fruit, vegetable...the sky's the limit); I like serving grain salads over lettuce - I would double the dressing for the rice, saving half to drizzle over the lettuce (or to use with another salad)