Radish and Pecan Grain Salad
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.
Lunch!
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 Hesser
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 cup 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!
More Great Recipes:
Grains|Appetizer|Salad|Side|Vegan|Vegetarian
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over 1 year ago foodyjudy
Okay. I read all the comments and determined that maybe I shouldn't use the tarragon. And maybe i shouldn't use the olive oil and the walnut oil AND the sherry vinegar. WRONG, WRONG WRONG. This recipe is perfect as it is. I cooked the grains the day before and added the walbut oil and vinegar while they were still warm. That allowed them to soak up the liquid. Next day i added all the other stuff which definitely needed the olive oil and served sans tarragon. I sent mt friend/food guru home with leftover salad and a sprig of tarragon. He wrote tge next a.m. Add the tarragon! All i can say is, Listen to Amanda!!
over 1 year ago Amanda Hesser
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Glad it made you happy!
almost 2 years ago lois
I'm eating leftovers for lunch right now. I was wary of cooking grains (in my case, a mix of farro, barley, Israeli couscous, and millet) like pasta, but that worked fine. I used spinach instead of arugula, and would use more next time. I thought the grain-to-vegetable ratio was a little off. I whisked the olive oil with the vinegar before adding, and eliminated the walnut oil altogether. You don't need that extra quarter cup.
about 2 years ago epicharis
This recipe has always intrigued me and I was ecstatic for the opportunity to finally try it. I'm sorry to say this is one of the precious few Food52 recipes I won't make again. It's not a bad salad by any means, it simply doesn't work (except the texture, which is delightful). The radish, mint and raisins seem to make sense, but then you get a bite of tarragon or parsley and it ruins it. I like the shallots, cranberries and pecans, but then the mint or the radishes taste jarring. "The radishes are like foreign invaders," my boyfriend observed. Again, it's not bad, it just doesn't make sense to me. I would nominate this for Your Favorite Side Dish To Serve On Alpha Centauri.
over 2 years ago Heather Schöll
Just made this to use up some random remnants of grains in our pantry- yum! Also used a blood orange instead of the dried fruit and cilantro instead of parsley and spinach instead of arugula. Just what I had on hand. Served with some scallops and it was the perfect fresh winter salad meal. Thanks! Will make again!
over 2 years ago Molly
I made this for my family for Christmas dinner, using barley and quinoa and it came out great. I bought walnut oil specifically for this recipe, but I don't think it was entirely necessary. I also added more arugula as I continued to eat the salad as leftovers. I liked it so much, I made it again for a New Year's Eve party. Everyone loved it!
over 2 years ago John
Glad to know.
over 2 years ago kesypesy
How lovely this radish and pecan grain salad. Number one!
over 2 years ago Bob
You did a great job by making this super delicious salad.
over 2 years ago hilbil
Yummy, what a great salad recipe.
over 2 years ago John
This salad is amazing and it looks also fantastic.
over 2 years ago Chef Devaux
The pic looks great! I just want to dig in and eat that salad
about 3 years ago Caitlan Rae Carver
Great Combo
about 3 years ago Debra Crank-Lewis
Made this at Thanksgiving. I used farro, buckwheat and tricolor quinoa. No dried cranberries so I used dried cherries. My vegetarian son loved it and my carnivore husband really liked it.
over 3 years ago deborah
Visually appealing,Delicious and Satisfying...I used farro and barley. The textures , flavor blends and chewiness, made this a recipe a real winner. Lucky for me, I have parsley, tarragon, mint arugula and radishes growing in my garden! The grains were easy since I mill all my flour. No doubt, this will become favorite...since my hubby said he really enjoyed it as well. ;) I roasted a chicken with lemon, garlic and lemon thyme...served the salad with a few slices of chicken...heaven. :) Thank you Amanda!
over 3 years ago Amanda Hesser
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
So glad you like it -- but now I have garden envy! :)
over 3 years ago deborah
Amanda, Yes...I am quite lucky living in a climate that allows for year round gardening. Every meal I wander out back to first see what could be harvested, then plan my menu. Life is good.
about 4 years ago CurioCook
I made this for my lunches this week -- so good! It seems so simple, but it is very tasty and satisfying. I didn't have sherry vinegar so used apple cider vin, and olive oil because they don't have anything more adventurous at our local grocery store… still worked well! I like a bit of local NZ sheep's milk feta on top. Yum yum!
about 4 years ago tulip549
Great recipe. I made this for Superbowl Sunday- used farro and quinoa. I doubled the amount of arugula, added cilantro, sesame seeds, almonds, cranberries, radishes, and cashews, and my sauce consisted of olive oil, lemon juice, rice vinegar, honey, shallots, garlic, chile pepper and salt all blended together.
I made the farro and quinoa the night before and poured some dressing to let the flavors mingle. Would recommend tossing in the arugula and remainder of the greens an hour or so before you plan to serve such that the greens looks fresh and not wilted.
These sorts of grain salad recipes are great in the sense that you can improvise and throw in whatever you want! :D
over 4 years ago Cynthea
I made this dish for a pot-luck birthday party. I used black rice, quinoa and wild rice for the grains to keep it GF. I was so delighted with the many flavors and nuances that I kept tasting it and worried that I might have to make another before I got it to the party! YUM! Thanks for sharing.
almost 5 years ago KatherineC
Can you recommend a whole fruit substitute for the dried cranberries/raisins? Also is it 1/2 pound or 1/2 cup pecans?
almost 5 years ago Amanda Hesser
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Cherries, blueberries, or diced peach would be good. And I'm glad you asked about the pecans, I think that was a typo. Should be 1/2 cup.
almost 5 years ago KatherineC
Thanks! I stuck with the dried fruit and used a mixture of blueberries, cherries, raisins and cranberries. It was fun to use a variety of dried fruit. I made it gluten-free with wild rice, quinoa and buckwheat groats - it was delicious!
almost 5 years ago Chloe8
yum. Any substitute for walnut oil? Perhaps this oil makes the dish perfect?
almost 5 years ago Amanda Hesser
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
The walnut oil is a nice touch but there are a lot of other great flavors in this dish, so olive oil would be a perfectly fine substitute.
almost 5 years ago Josie Marsh
Simply fantastic. Glad to have a good use for my big tarragon plant and garden radishes, too!
Showing 26 out of 69 comments