Wild Rice Salad

Several years ago, my coworkers and I would sometimes send out for lunch from a local bakery, which baked the most delicious breads they would then use at lunch-time to make unique and tasty sandwiches. They also offered scratch made soups every day, along with an array of salads, not to mention their beautiful pastries.

We loved and always ordered the Wild Rice Salad. We were all avid cooks and food lovers but we could never figure out that salad. We would pick out all the individual components--the wild rice, of course, the red bell pepper, the scallions, the almonds, and we could tell it had a vinaigrette dressing, but there was a very distinct background flavor we simply could not identify.

A couple of years ago, through a serendipitious meeting, a woman who was once the pastry chef at this bakery gave me the recipe. As I scanned the list of ingredients, I quickly identified the elusive flavor component--Mango Chutney!


Wild Rice Salad with Mango Viniagrette
8 oz. wild rice, cooked according to package directions, and cooled
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 green onions, sliced
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 bunch (approx. 1/2 cup) minced parsley

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Dress with the following dressing.

Mango Viniagrette
1/4 cup mango chutney
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, or more to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Puree the chutney and vinegar, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Mix the dressing into the rice mixture. Adjust the vinegar, salt and pepper, to taste.



Sadly, after almost 20 years, the bakery is no longer in business. They could not compete with the two corporate bakery giants who moved into town.