MONDAY RECIPE POST - WILD RICE SALAD WITH CRANBERRIES, APRICOTS AND AVOCADO

This is a gluten-free and vegan friendly recipe, can be served at special holiday meals or any time. You can find the original here at Healthy Seasonal Recipes hosted by Katie. Thank you Katie for a delicious recipe.

Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries, Apricots and Avocado

Makes: 10 cups
Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories per cup: 213

2 cups wild rice
3 tangerines, divided
1 avocado, cut in half and pit removed
1 small shallot, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons agave or honey
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

Place rice in a large saucepan.  Cover generously with water. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer, and cook until the rice is just tender but not mushy, 45 to 50 minutes.

Zest and juice one tangerine.  Segment the remaining two tangerines and set aside.  Add the zest and juice to a blender.  Scoop 1/4 avocado into the blender.  Add shallot, oil, vinegar, mustard, agave or honey and salt.  Puree until smooth. Pour into a large bowl.

Stir the hot rice into the dressing and let cool to room temperature, 35 to 42 minutes.  (If you are preparing this in advance it can made up to this point 2 days before.  Continue with the rest of the recipe just before serving.)

Stir in parsley, pecans, cranberries, apricots and the reserved tangerine segments.  Dice the remaining avocado and gently stir into the salad.

This is one of the meals I transferred from my old blog, but have made it several times since.  It is delicious with many wonderful flavors to enjoy.  I did make a few changes originally. 

 

My local supermarket didn't have any tangerines so I used small regular oranges which I cut into small pieces.

I couldn't find any wild rice and instead I bought two boxes of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice Mix but didn't use their seasoning packets.  You would have to adjust your cooking time and follow the directions on the box for cooking this rice mix. 

Toasting the pecans made them have a smoky roasted flavor which was yummy.  

Thanks for looking and have a great week.