Wild Rice salad with mint and preserved lemon

wild rice salad with mint and preserved lemon piled onto a white plate.

This wild rice salad is such a winner! My family loves the nuttiness and chewiness of wild rice and I have always liked rice salad. The way that the dressing is absorbed by the rice to enhance the overall flavours of the salad makes it oh-so more-ish for me. It took a few versions to perfect this recipe, but my forgiving family didn’t once moan “rice salad again?!”, which I believe is testament to its ‘winner’ status. I knew I wanted to marry the nutty wild rice with strong flavours. And I wanted to keep it as green as possible. So, green pepper; celery; mint and basil are all in there, along with spring onion and preserved lemon. Talk about strong flavours! You will love this one.

We typically enjoy it as a flavoursome base for grain-bowls (a super-easy family meal that I hope to post about soon) or as a side dish to roasted chicken or fish. It is also a perfect vegan salad option, on its own, for lunch. With all the veg and greens it contains, you don’t need much more to create a nutritious, healthy meal – perhaps just a sprinkling of nuts or seeds. Mmm – I think I may need to go and enjoy the leftovers now.


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wild rice salad with mint and preserved lemon piled on a white plate with a silver fork next to it.

wild rice salad with mint and preserved lemon

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Angela
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: serves 6-8 1x
  • Category: salad

Description

This salad is refreshing and light – and easy to put together: nine ingredients and a quick dressing. It’s the perfect vegan side option for a dinner party or a weeknight meal. 


Ingredients

Scale

For the Salad:

2½ cups cooked and cooled wild rice (I use a bought mixed pack of rice containing long grain brown; black and red rice varieties)

1 medium green bell pepper – deseeded & diced

3 sticks celery – cleaned, trimmed, & sliced thinly on the diagonal

2 Persian cucumbers – quartered lengthways & sliced (or ½ an English cucumber, if you can’t find Persian cucumbers)

⅓ cup fresh mint – loosely packed & finely chopped 

3 spring onions – finely cut with a pair of scissors, leaving just the white ends

2 large handfuls of baby spinach – roughly chopped

1 preserved lemon, quartered, flesh removed, and the lemon peel chopped very finely

For the Dressing:

2 tbls good-quality extra virgin olive oil

2 tbls red wine vinegar

juice of 1 lemon (approx. 2 tbls)

1 tsp honey (or substitute with maple syrup, if vegan)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Instructions

  1.  While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients
  2. Place all of the prepared ingredients in large bowl.
  3. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until they come together to form a smooth dressing
  4. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients. Mix by carefully lifting and folding the salad ingredients over, repeating until the ingredients are evenly mixed.
  5. Allow this salad to stand for a while before serving, and serve it at room temperature to best be able to appreciate and enjoy the strong flavours.  

Notes

* A salad recipe that tastes better the next day – there aren’t many of those around, so this is a great one to prep-ahead and leave in the fridge. 



4 thoughts on “Wild Rice salad with mint and preserved lemon”

  • This looks terrific! Is there a way to subscribe to your site so I can be notified when new recipes are posted? Congrats on bringing Place at My Table to life! Looking forward to what’s to come!






    • Thanks Sorrel – a few people have mentioned that they would prefer to receive email notifications as they aren’t always on social media. I’ll look into it and let you know.

  • I also used the mixed blend of rices. I didn’t use green pepper (don’t like it) or celery (didn’t have it), but it was great!! I’ll make it again.






    • I’m so happy to hear that you liked it! And especially happy to hear that you made it your own by playing with the ingredients. That is what good cooking is all about; getting creative with what you have.

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