Orange-Pistachio Wild Rice Salad

I have been trying to make this dish for days, but something has always interfered.  It sounded really good, but sounded better than it tasted.  Don’t get me wrong, it was fine, just a bit of a letdown.  I think as a summer dish it would make a great alternate to the usual potato salad, macaroni salad (which I personally hate), etc.  No mayonnaise involved, so it is a perfect picnic carry along.  Maybe half the dressing and double the oranges would have been more to my liking.  Feel free to add more pistachios also.  This is an Ellie Krieger recipe.  I cut it out of USA Weekend, serves 6.

Ingredients:

2/3 C brown rice

2/3 C wild rice

3 C low-sodium chicken broth

3T chopped unsalted pistachios

1 orange

10 large fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons

¼ C minced red onion

For the dressing:

1/3 C red wine vinegar

¼ C EVOO

1 T orange juice

1 ½ t Dijon mustard

1 t honey

¼ t salt

Directions:

1.      Combine the brown rice, wild rice and broth in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook until all water is evaporated and the rice is fully cooked, 45-55 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool completely. 

2.      Toast the pistachios in a small dry skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes.  Cool completely.

3.      Grate the zest from the orange.  It took a whole orange to be a teaspoon.  I then peeled the orange and sectioned it for the salad.  I squeezed the membrane of the orange for the tablespoon of juice required for the dressing. 

4.      When the rice is cool, add the orange sections, the basil, onion, pistachios and orange zest.  Mix to incorporate.  

5.      Whisk all the dressing ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and pour over the rice.  Mix to incorporate. 

It takes a while to make this as the wild rice is a long cook and then you have to cool the rice.  I recommend making the rice early in the day and then when ready to do dinner, do the rest.  I served this with grilled tuna and artichoke hearts.  I threatened Jim with his life if he overcooked my tuna.