Crunchy Cranberry and Rice Salad

 Crunchy Cranberry and Rice Salad

             Serves 6

             Cranberries are popular at Christmas time, especially in the cranberry sauce often served with turkey. Dried cranberries are great in cakes or muffins, and work well in salads, such as in this festive rice dish. Wild rice, with its intense nutty flavour, mixes well with long-grain basmati rice. This is a great salad for the Christmas buffet table and is delicious with barbecued meats.

             1½ cups cooked basmati rice (see Tip)

             1½ cups cooked wild rice (see Tip)

             1 cup dried cranberries

             ¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted

             2 spring onions, finely sliced

             ½ cup chopped coriander

             1 tablespoon grated ginger

             ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice, strained

             1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

             salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season

              

             Combine the rice, cranberries, almonds, spring onions and coriander in a serving dish.

             Press the grated ginger through a fine sieve to extract as much juice as possible. Combine the ginger juice with the strained orange juice and oil. Drizzle the ginger mixture over the rice mixture and toss to coat. Season to taste and serve at room temperature.

             TIP Cook wild rice separately as it takes longer to cook than basmati rice – follow the packet directions for cooking times. You’ll need to cook ½ cup basmati rice and ⅔ cup wild rice for this recipe.