Wild Thing... You Make My Heart Sing

On its own this is a truly delicious salad and makes the perfect side dish to compliment any meal. The wild rice is both soft and slightly chewy with its own distinct nutty flavor and with the addition of the other ingredients it has a little of everything to please all the senses. I remember many years ago we had gone to a cousin’s house for dinner and she served us stuffed Cornish hens. The taste was out of this world and I just couldn’t quite put my finger on all the wonderful flavors that I was experiencing. Turns out, she had used this wild rice salad as the stuffing for her little birds and as they baked all the sweetness from the raisins and the tartness from the vinegar permeated the meat. It really was one of the most delicious Cornish hens that I had ever eaten.

Wild Rice Salad

1/2 cup wild rice mix, cooked (uncle bens long grain and wild rice original mix works great)
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
3/4 cup golden raisins, soaked in hot water and drained
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (any vinegar will do except balsamic, the balsamic seems to be a bit overpowering)
1/4 Teaspoon of black pepper
2 or 3 strips of crisp bacon crumbled
1/2 cup of scallions, thinly sliced

Cook wild rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, soak raisins in hot water.
Whisk together oil, vinegar and seasonings in salad bowl. Add rice and remaining ingredients mix and serve, tastes even better the next day.

photo/arisv/flickr