Wild Rice Winter Salad
Founder / Chef / Everyone’s Best Friend
Andy Hay
Welcome to my kitchen. I hope to inspire you to grow as a home cook!
I’ve wanted to make a Wild Rice Winter salad for a while now, and I’m very pleased with how this one turned out! It hits a ton of great flavours and textures. Mix that with a super easy and satisfying nutty, sweet, and bright salad dressing, and this might be your new go-to salad!
Wild Rice Winter salad- Roasting your veg.
For a salad like this, there are a few different veggies you could use. I used sweet potato, but you could go for squash or carrots—anything that will roast up nicely and has a bit of sweetness.
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Dice 2 cups’ worth of sweet potato into bite-size chunks and add them to a bowl. Add in 1 tsp of kosher salt, ½ tsp of cinnamon, ½ tsp of pepper, and 1 tbsp of olive oil.
Roast for about 25-30 minutes or until they’re nice, tender, and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Wild Rice Winter salad- Tahini Dressing.
This is a super tasty salad dressing. It’s nutty, sweet, and bright—the perfect pairing for a wintertime salad.
All you need is 2 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp Dijon, 1 tbsp lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a few good glugs of olive oil. Give it a good mix and store it in an airtight container for up to a week!
Using kale right.
Kale always gets a bad rap, and I get it. However, if you use this simple trick, you’ll fall head over heels for this hearty winter green.
Kale is just that, a hearty winter green. The cellular structure of the leaf is quite strong, tough, and needs a little bit of convincing to make it tender.
You really need to be rough with it. Anytime I’m using kale, I try to break it up and mash it with my hands as much as possible. Some people call it massaging the kale; I like to call it beating it as hard as I can. As you break it down, you literally break down the cell walls and turn it into a much more palatable leafy green.
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Ingredients:
For the Salad Base
- 1 head Kale
- 1 1/2 cups Cooked Wild Rice Follow the instructions on the package
- 1/2 cup Shelled Pistachios
- 1/2 cup Feta
- 1/2 cup Pickled Red Onion
For the Roasted Sweet Potato
- 2 cups Sweet Potato Cubed
- 1 tsp Olive Oil 1
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
For the Dressing
- 2 Tbs Tahini
- 1 tbs Maple Syrup
- 1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 tbs Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbs Lemon Juice
- 1 pinch Salt + Pepper
- 3 tbs Olive Oil `
Instructions:
- Cook any style of wild rice, making sure to follow the instructions on the back of the package. Once cooked, remove from heat and let it cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. With a sharp knife, cube 2 cups' worth of sweet potatoes and place them into a bowl. Season with 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of black pepper, ½ tsp of ground cinnamon, and about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Give it a good mix and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- In a bowl or mason jar, add 2 tbsp of tahini, 1 tbsp of maple syrup, 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 tbsp of olive oil, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
- Next, clean your kale. Remove the leafy green from the woody stem and give it a quick chop. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add your kale, wild rice, pistachios, pickled onion, feta, roasted sweet potato, and your maple tahini dressing. Give it all a good mix and enjoy!
Andy Hay
Andy is the founder of ECK, Chef, and let’s admit it… the reason you’re here. He taught himself to cook, and it all paid off when he secured his spot in the season 5 Finale of Master Chef Canada. Now, Andy uses his big energy to showcase recipes that actually make people want to cook. His brand was built on butter and East Coast charm, and Andy’s kept that same energy ever since. Off-camera, you’ll find him doing what started it all: cooking for his two daughters, wife and the people he loves.
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This is unbelievably delicious and satisfying even as a meal! All the elements go together so well. Has been on regular rotation in our house for a long time.
Love this Liane! Thanks for letting us know.
This is quite possibly the best salad I’ve ever tasted and has be come a family favorite! Everyone always asks for the recipe and it is perfect exactly as written. Filling enough to be a meal.
That’s amazing to hear—thank you! So glad it’s become a family favorite. Thanks for sharing!