Summer Wild Rice Salad

This refreshing SUMMER WILD RICE SALAD with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette is the perfect make-ahead salad to bring to your next potluck!

Or as I discovered, the perfect salad to bring to a baby shower (although I’m sure it would go over equally as well at a bridal shower)! As I looked for my bowl to bring home after the shower, its colorful splashes of salad were replaced with an empty white bowl to my satisfaction. I think they liked it.

And I think you will love this fun spin on a salad! The wild rice (which is actually not a rice but a seed of grain) makes a texture packed salad base with an alluring depth of nutty flavor. To play up its hearty texture, I added juicy strawberries and blueberries, crisp asparagus, crunchy red bell peppers, fresh basil, creamy salty feta and my favorite, the sweet caramelized nuts. Because every good salad in my book needs nuts. And caramelized is that much better.

I’ve included a link to my 5 Minute Perfect Caramelized Nuts which I use all the time. You can use walnuts, pecans, almonds, whatever your favorite nuts are or whatever you have on hand for this for this Summer Wild Rice Salad recipe, but my favorite nuts are always caramelized.

And there is the intoxicatingly delicious Honey Lemon Vinaigrette. Sweet, tangy with just a splash of Dijon. When it comes to the dressing, you might want to make it sweeter or less sweet just depending on the sweetness of your berries and your personal preference. You can also choose whether or not to serve this salad at room temperature or chilled. I personally like it chilled as its tastes more refreshing and the flavors seem more pronounced, but it’s totally up to you!

And it’s totally up to you how soon you want this Summer Wild Rice Salad to become part of your life. I vote soon. Its been missing you.

Summer Wild Rice Salad

This refreshing SUMMER WILD RICE SALAD with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette is the perfect make-ahead salad to bring to your next potluck!

Print Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Course: Side Dish

Servings: 8 -10 servings

Author: Jen from Carlsbad Cravings

Ingredients

Wild Rice Salad:

• 4 ½ cups wild rice blend cooked (approx, 1 ½ cups uncooked)
• 1 ½ cups chopped strawberries
• 6 oz. blueberries about 1 cup
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• ½ bunch 1/2 pound asparagus, chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped red onion
• ½ cup caramelized pecans almonds or walnuts*
• ¼ cup feta
• ¼ cup fresh basil chopped

Honey Lemon Vinaigrette:

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice to taste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

• Whisk together all of the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette ingredients in a medium bowl or shake in a jar with lid fastened tightly. Taste and add more cider vinegar for tangier, honey for sweeter. Season generously with additional salt and pepper to taste. Best chilled.
• Combine all of the Wild Rice Salad ingredients together in a large bowl and toss with dressing. Chill or serve at room temperature.

Notes

*You can half the recipe or make the whole recipe and use half the nuts because whatever you don't use will go quickly!

Tried this recipe?Snap a pic and upload to your pin and let me know what you thought!

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