wild rice – cabbage salad

Wild rice has so much texture and flavor that it make a great base for a summer grain salad. And it is cabbage season so go for it. This is a fantastic summer salad when you serve it cold (or rather room temperature) and you can make up a big bowl of it and serve it for entertaining or keep it for a lunch meal. 

INGREDIENTS:

Wild rice 1/3 -1/2 cup uncooked per person

Beets – 1 small beet or 1/2 beet per person / portion

Red cabbage – 2 cups per person before marinating

Cilantro – small bunch of leaves

Walnuts – 5-10 per person

Mirin or brown-rice vinegar

Olive-oil

Sea-salt and pepper

Serves 1 or many

METHOD:

Cook the wild rice as you would cook any rice. 1 cup wild rice needs 1 1/4 cup of water – cooking time is 45 minutes.

Boil the beets whole for 20 minutes or you can actually use them raw. Cut them into chunks – any size you like will do.

Cut the cabbage into strips and chop futher into chunks. Put it in a stainless steel bowl and use sea-salt and mirin or brown rice vinegar to marinate it. Massage it well with your hands. You can also sauté the cabbage on the pan. It gets very yummy and sweet that way, but it is not as crunchy. Use a little sea-salt at a time. You need about 1 small teaspoon per 2 cups of raw cabbage. Drizzle the vinegar after a good massaging and only add the olive oil to the extend you want it more “wet” and oily. You don’t have to add it.

Mix it all together in a bowl with a small bunch of fresh cilantro and walnuts – add olive oil to your liking. About 1-2 tbsp per person.