Berry Rice Salad Food

BERRY RICE SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk yogurt, sugar and lime juice until smooth.
• Slice grapes in half.
• Combine berries with a light toss, add rice and toss.
• Add yogurt mixture to rice-fruit mixture and toss again.

RICE, RED LENTIL, AND WHEAT BERRY SALAD

Steps:

• Soak the wheat berries overnight, or, as an alternative, place them in a saucepan half filled with water and boil them for 2 minutes, then remove them from the heat and let sit 1 hour. In either case, drain them, then refill the saucepan halfway with water and cook the wheat berries, partially covered, for 1 hour. When done, the wheat berries will be tender but slightly crunchy. Drain them thoroughly and let them cool.
• Bring 2 cups of water, the canola oil, and salt to a boil in a mediumsize saucepan. Stir in the lentils and rice and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook for 17 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Do not stir the mixture at all while it is cooking. Carefully spoon the mixture into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tightfitting lid and shake vigorously. Set aside.
• When the rice mixture is completely cooled, use a large spoon to break up any clumps that have formed. Carefully stir in the wheat berries, carrot, red pepper, and parsley. Pour the dressing on the salad and toss. Let marinate at least 20 minutes before serving. (Note The rice greedily soaks up the dressing, so if you want to make this salad 2 to 24 hours in advance, pour on only half the dressing at first, then add the remainder about 20 minutes before serving.)

WILD RICE AND BERRIES WITH POPPED RICE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large saucepan, bring 5 cups water to a boil over high. Stir in 1 cup wild rice along with the dried berries and maple syrup. Once the mixture comes back to a boil, reduce the heat so the liquid is just simmering, cover and cook until the grains begin to open, 20 to 40 minutes, checking doneness after about 20 minutes. (The rice is done when it has opened slightly, is tender and has quadrupled in size.)
• Drain the excess liquid from the rice. (The cloudy cooking liquid tastes sweet and nutty and can be sipped on its own, reserved for use in the roast turkey with berry-mint sauce and black walnuts, or used as a stock substitute.)
• Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them until the skin blisters and cracks, and they begin to smell nutty, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a clean dish towel and massage them aggressively to remove most of the skins. Crush the nuts directly in the towel using the flat side of a knife or the bottom of a small, heavy frying pan.
• Add the remaining 1/4 cup rice to a dry medium skillet and cook the rice over high heat, shaking the pan, until it begins to darken and about half of the kernels have popped, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Drizzle the boiled rice with the hazelnut oil and season to taste with salt. Divide among bowls and garnish with the popped rice, hazelnuts and chives.

WHEAT BERRY AND WILD RICE SALAD

Steps:

• Combine wheat berries and wild rice with 3 and 1/3 cups water in rice cooker and set to cook.
• Mix Italian dressing, honey mustard, basil and salt in small bowl and set aside.
• Combine cooked wheat berries and wild rice with cranberries and green onion. Toss with dressing mixture.
• Cover and chill at least 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in nuts.