Valentine's Day

Rainbow Chard and Wild Rice Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

January 27, 2015
4.7
3 Ratings
  • Serves 4 to 6
Author Notes

An earthy wild rice salad with sautéed shallots, rainbow chard, blood orange slices, dried cherries, toasted pepitas, and a blood orange vinaigrette. —Elizabeth Stark

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Ingredients
  • For the vinaigrette:
  • 1 tablespoon blood orange zest plus 3 tablespoons juice
  • 2 tablespoons minced shallot
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • For the salad:
  • 1 cup dry wild rice
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • 1/4 cup raw, hulled pepitas
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 shallot, sliced
  • 1 bunch rainbow chard, chopped
  • 1/4 cup dried tart cherries
  • 3 medium blood oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds
  • 2 tablespoons minced chives
  • Ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
  1. For the vinaigrette:
  2. In a small bowl, whisk the blood orange zest and juice, shallot, Dijon, and sea salt to combine. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the oil is well-combined and the dressing is thick and emulsified.
  1. For the salad:
  2. Cook wild rice according to instructions or bring 3 1/2 cups water to a boil over high heat. Add rice and a generous pinch of sea salt, allow mixture to bubble up, then cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes or until rice is cooked through but still has some bite. Strain, place rice back into saucepan, and toss with 1/4 cup of the blood orange vinaigrette.
  3. Place a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pepitas and cook, shaking pan often, just until the first few pop. Remove pepitas, set aside, and replace skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and shallots, and sauté for 2 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Toss in the chard, along with a pinch or two of sea salt, and sauté for 4 minutes or just until chard begins to wilt.
  4. Toss the warm shallots and chard with the rice. Add the cherries and more dressing. Adjust salt levels as needed.
  5. Plate salad, tucking blood orange slices throughout. Finish with a drizzle of dressing, black pepper, toasted pepitas, and minced chives.

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Elizabeth Stark, along with her husband Brian Campbell, chronicles her passion for simple, fresh recipes on the award-wining food blog Brooklyn Supper.

1 Review

Melanie February 9, 2015
This was delicious! I used wheatberries instead of the wild rice, and served it with a grilled, boneless leg of lamb. Thank you for the recipe!