Green Grape and Wild Rice Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette
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PortionsThis vegetarian wild rice and green grape salad is a flavorful and healthy side dish, stuffing, or entrée. It’s also gluten-free.In this demonstration, Chef Scott Samuel from The Culinary Institute of America shows us the “pasta method” of cooking rice. Instead of measuring out the rice and water, he simply boils a large pot of water, adds the rice, and strains the rice when cooked through. Chef Samuel designed this recipe for retail foodservice, but it’s also suitable for many other foodservice venues.
Ingredients
- GRAPE AND WILD RICE SALAD
1 cup Wild rice
2 tsp Kosher salt
½ cup Mandarin oranges
2 cups Green grapes
½ cup Walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 ea Roasted red bell peppers
½ cup Dried currants
¼ cup Scallions, white and green parts, chopped
½ tsp Ground black pepper
½ cup Sherry vinaigrette
SHERRY VINAIGRETTE½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup Sherry vinegar
¼ cup Orange juice
1 ea Garlic clove, minced
2 tsp Tarragon, minced
to taste Salt and ground black pepper
1 cup Almonds, slivered and toasted
Directions
- For the grape and wild rice salad: Place the wild rice in a medium pot with 4 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes, until the rice is very tender. Drain well and place the rice back in the pot. Cover and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Chill completely.
- Place rice in a mixing bowl and add the mandarin oranges; toss to combine. Add the rest of the salad ingredients; chill.
- For the sherry vinaigrette: Combine the ingredients, and adjust the seasonings with additional salt and pepper as necessary.
- Add ½ cup of the dressing to moisten and allow to sit for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Taste for seasonings, add more dressing if needed, and serve chilled or at room temperature. Garnish with the toasted almonds.
