Wild Rice Salad

This salad is perfect throughout the year. Wild rice is the mainstay but you can easily substitute many fruits and nuts for those listed in the recipe. Consider this salad on a buffet table since it can be made in advance. It looks lovely and goes beautifully with other salads, chicken or turkey. The recipe is from Ina Garten's latest cookbook, Barefoot Contessa how easy is that? When I made it, I reduced the salt and traded oranges for clementines.

1 cup long grain wild rice (6 ounces)

Kosher salt

2 navel oranges

2 tbls. good olive oil

2 tbls. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tbls. raspberry vinegar

1/2 cup seedless green grapes, cut in half

1/2 cup pecans, toasted

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tbls. scallions, white and green parts, chopped

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Place the wild rice in a medium pot with 4 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of salt (I used much less salt) and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 50-60 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.

While the rice is still warm, place it in a mixing bowl. Peel the oranges with a sharp knife, removing all the white pith. Cut between the membranes and add the orange sections to the bowl with the rice. Add the olive oil, orange juice, raspberry vinegar, grapes, pecans, cranberries, scallions, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to sit for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Taste for seasonings and serve at room temperature.

Serves 4-6

Notes:Use almost any citrus fruit, sliced Fuyu persimmons,sliced apples (tossed in lemon juice), walnuts, hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds.