Wild Rice and Red Wine Salad
 
Wild rice has a delicious nutty flavour. It takes a little longer to cook, but worth the wait. I have ramped up the flavours and textures in this recipe. Let’s be honest here, a rice salad rarely blows your mind! Cooking the rice in red wine will give you a deeper flavour and by mixing it with pickled grapes it will add a burst of acidity. Crunchy pumpkin seeds and walnuts give great texture . All that with some creamy brie, makes for an amazing salad.
 
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
 
250g wild rice mix
300ml red wine or stock, if preferred 300ml water
300g seedless grapes
150ml red wine vinegar
1 red onion
1 handful of flat leaf parsley
1 small brie
70g roasted walnuts
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
 
Here’s How:
 
Pour the wild rice mix into a pan with the wine or stock and the water.
Cook the rice for 30-40 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, heat a non stick pan and add the grapes and the vinegar.
Cook the grapes for 3-4 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to cool.
Chop the red onion and dice the brie into cubes as well as the parsley and put to one side.
Stir the wild rice mix, then, when cooked, transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Lift the pickled grapes out of the vinegar and into the rice bowl.
Scatter the red onion, brie and parsley over the rice.
Roast the walnuts and pumpkin seeds along with a good splash of extra virgin olive oil in the oven at 170c for 8-10 minutes. When cooled a little scatter over the rice salad before serving.
Try serving this salad with a Californian Pinot Noir.
 
Recipe by Peter Sidwell