Wild rice photo by La.Catholique/Flickr.

Today and Monday I will be away from the blog, although checking and approving comments as often as possible. I thought this might be a good opportunity to dig through my old blog file and find some reader-submitted recipes I have not yet shared with the rest of the crowd.

This recipe for Mediterranean Wild Rice Salad was adapted from one sent in by a reader named Rochelle. Rochelle got the original recipe from Roya Gharavi, the owner of one of the finest stores in all of Blacksburg, Gourmet Pantry. Rochelle wrote, “At first I did not care for the recipe with lentils as much as I did with the wild rice [See note]. However after the salad sat for a few days it gained more flavor. We had it for a light meal with some left over natural spiral ham which I diced and added to the salad.”

Thank you to Rochelle and Roya.

Mediterranean Wild Rice Salad
Serves 4

Rice ingredients:
1 1/2 cups wild rice, rinsed
3 1/2 cups water or more
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
Pinch of ground or 3 pieces of whole Cloves (optional)

Dressing:
2-3 Tbsp. white-wine vinegar, plus more to taste
4 Tbsp. virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
1 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard, or to taste (optional)
Drops of Tabasco, to taste

Salad ingredients:
1 large tomato, chopped (about 1 1/4 cup)
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
1 cup marinated artichoke, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots, scallions, or onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. toasted slivered almonds

1. Place all ingredients for the rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until rice is cooked through. Cool until it is lukewarm; drain off any liquid. Pour rice into a mixing bowl; discard herbs.
2. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Mix vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, mustard and Tabasco.
3. Add tomato, green pepper, artichoke, shallots and garlic to the cooled rice. Pour dressing over all, then gently fold the ingredients together.
4. Sprinkle with slivered almonds before serving.

Notes:

You may substitute lentils for the wild rice in this recipe, if desired. Gharavi recommends French green lentils cooked for about 25 minutes.

If you want to make this the day ahead, do not add tomatoes or almonds until just before serving.

Ham or chicken can also be added to this dish to make it a main course.