Radish and Pecan Grain Salad
Lunch!
It's a lot of ingredients but most are easy to find: wild rice, shallot, radish, arugula, raisins, pecans, dried cranberries, quinoa, farro, pearl barley, tarragon, and mint.
Measure out the grains separately, so you can add them successively to a pot of boiling water.
When the grains are finished cooking, you drain them all together.
If you want to slice the radishes ahead of time, keep them covered in water and drain before using. These were sliced on a mandoline.
Once the grains are cooked and the herbs are chopped, it's a matter of assembly.
You add all the ingredients at once.
I added the oils (olive and walnut) and vinegar (aged sherry) at the end.
Then fold away. This is a salad you want to mix a lot to get all the flavors and textures to blend.
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Author Notes: When you write about food, you always have your "foodar" on, as you search for new ideas to write about. So at a recent holiday party at our friends' Rachel and Morgan's, where I was supposedly watching after my two little ones, my foodar went "BE-EP! BE-EP!" when I tasted a grain salad that was served along with delicious roasted turkey.
The salad was made with farro, wild rice, quinoa, and barley. The grains were threaded with pecans, raisins, and dried cranberries and the salad was brightened with bits of arugula, radishes, and a wash of sherry vinegar and walnut oil. It was the kind of salad that sounds like a starchy do-gooder, but it has grace and conviction, and you'll want to eat it every day for lunch. Andrew Burman and Matt Monahan, the chefs at Court Street Grocers, who were the caterers that evening, kindly shared the recipe with me. - amanda
Serves 6 to 8 as a side
- 2 cups mixed grains (like farro, freekeh, wheat berries, wild rice, and quinoa, pearl barley, or any combination of the above)
- 1 cup baby arugula leaves
- 1 cup parsley leaves, minced
- 1/2 cup tarragon leaves, minced
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, cut in a chiffonade
- 1/2 pound pecans
- 1/4 cup walnut oil
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
- 1 cup lime, watermelon, or French breakfast radishes, cut into thin slices, preferably using a mandoline
- 1/4 cup shallot, minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the grains and cook until just tender, about 25 minutes. (With grains like wild rice and wheat berries, add them to the pot first and cook 10 minutes before adding remaining grains).
- Drain the grains into a colander, then set aside until warm to the touch.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss well. Season with salt to taste.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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1 day ago Ceege
Oh yum. So good. I did a trial run of this dish as I would like to make it later for "guests". Using it as my side dish, what meat/poultry/fish would be best with this dish. Actually, if you have an actual recipe you use, please let me know and I will do a search for it. Thanks for a wonderful side dish (I love grains).
about 22 hours ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Friends of mine always serve it with roast turkey. This time of year, I'd pair it with a grilled skirt steak or grilled chicken. Hope this is helpful!
1 day ago gingerroot
This is a fantastic salad. Based on the ingredients and comments I'd already decided to use it for a luncheon I'm hosting in June, but just tried it last night. I used wild rice and quinoa, raisins, dried cherries, mac nut oil, some basil and rosemary because that is what I had on hand. I know it will be even better with the mint and tarragon. Yum!
5 days ago EmilyC
I know I've already confessed my love for this salad but will again. I just made a big bowl of it for a dinner party tonight. Since we're having roasted radishes, I skipped the radishes here and added lightly sautéed asparagus and goat's milk feta. Kept everything else exactly the same.
20 days ago Jean Beck
My dad loved his radishes just dragged through a mound of salt. Sadly for me, the radish has always been a bit of a non-starter as I have encountered too many woody characters in my day. I promise to give them another shot this season though and this salad seems as though it has many enticing flavors. I look forward to adding the radish to my expanding vegetable favorites. Thanks for the recipe.
19 days ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
You're welcome, and hope it transforms your feelings about radishes!
about 1 month ago Ceege
Yummy, can't wait to try this. I have been looking for more "grain" recipes and looks like I have another to add to my collection. Do I really need two kinds of oils (walnut & olive) for this recipe?
about 1 month ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
No -- feel free to use whatever one you have on hand!
about 1 month ago EmilyC
This is one of my favorite recipes on the site -- it's perfect as written and open to improvisation. It's a huge hit every time I make it. Glad to see the new James Ransom pic!
about 1 month ago CathyL
I made this for a vegan dinner party and everyone (even the omnivores) loved it. There were beautiful French breakfast radishes, wild arugula and spearmint at the Union Square farmers' market; grains were a mix of Rancho Gordo red quinoa, pearl barley and wheat berries. Piled the salad on a bed of pea shoots. Delicious! It does make a lot, so I sent everyone home with some and will enjoy the rest for lunch today.
about 1 month ago Tish
OMG!! Every bit of this menu sounds yummy. I'm going to serve the entire menu for my bunco group this month. Thanks Food52 for these very fresh recipes.
about 1 month ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Let us know how it turns out -- happy bunco-ing!
5 months ago walrusgumbo
yum! i used barley and bulgar as my grains and omitted the mint and tarragon (did not have them on hand). also i subbed smoked almonds for the pecans. i served it with panko chicken cutlets with a kimchi relish and sweet potato molasses rolls with avocado butter. this was great for lunch the next day.
3 months ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
yum!
6 months ago darksideofthespoon
I used wild rice, quinoa, barley and farro - baby Kale instead of arugula and doubled the cranberries in place of raisins. SO DELICIOUS. My new favorite salad.
9 months ago Yessica
Hi!! I am in love with your website and really would like to try this recipe. A little confused on the ingredient list--1 cup lime, watermelon, or French breakfast radishes. What is it that I actually need?
this looks perfect for our next get together. Thank you so much for sharing :o)
9 months ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
It means you can use any variety of radish that you like! Hope that helps -- and thanks for your kind words about the site. Let us know your thoughts on the recipe!
3 months ago Yessica
Well, this recipe is on the regular rotation at my house. Everytime I make it there are no leftovers for next day. I have shared it withnothers and they only have great things to say. So glad I found you on the web. Every day I learn something new.
11 months ago Mojolyn
A great and flexible salad. I've taken it to my family reunion 2 years in a row, to rave reviews. This time I used equal parts quinoa and wheat berries, and lots more arugula. It gets better after a few days.
about 1 year ago EmilyC
This was the first dish I cooked after recently having a baby and it totally hit the spot. I love the combination of flavors -- I'll be making variations of this salad all spring and summer long.
about 1 year ago rpepper
I made this gluten-free, with 1 1/2 cups buckwheat groats (kasha) and 1/2 cup wild rice. I cooked the two grains separately; the kasha needs to be toasted and then cooks for only about 10 minutes. No walnut oil on hand, so I used a blend of olive and vegetable oil. It came out beautifully--great flavor!
about 1 year ago Jennifer Ann
a perfect lunch! I am growing french breakfast radishes (and tarragon and parsley and mixed greens) in my attic garden - my first harvest is going straight into this recipe. cannot wait!
over 1 year ago Eating Local in the Lou
I cant wait to try this recipe- I just recently purchased farro and freekah in order to give them a try. This will be the perfect opportunity
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Great -- let me know how you like it with freekah.
over 1 year ago Joni D
Looks fabulous. Can't wait to make it Saturday while watching the Pats! On to the Superbowl....I hope!
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Your wish came true!
over 1 year ago Helen0408
okay, YUM! Just made this lovely, addictive salad. FYI - all other comments are accurate, this will serve alot of people! This is definitely going into my recipe rotation... and is there anything more beautiful than a watermelon radish slice?
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Thanks for giving it a try!
over 1 year ago babycook
OMG. I just tasted the salad (I made it for a dinner tonight) and it's AMAZING. I can't wait to serve it. Folks are going to go wild. I used a combo of quinoa, wild rice and bulghar. Yum!
over 1 year ago jlsm
This salad has gone onto my "very best grain salad" list (a very select list of a half dozen). Just fantastic. I used hulled and pearled barley, wheatberries and black quinoa. I didn't use the raisins and I cut the nuts in half while toasting. Really, really good. In the two days since I've made it, I've already passed it along to two people.