When I come back from random shopping trips with stuff I don't have immediate use for, I stick in this one compartment in my fridge. That's one compartment I dare not look into often, for who knows what I will find. Like I was looking for some chocolate, and there was this packet called red camargue and wild rice. Quite a shock it was, of the "how come it's still here unopened, and just two months away from it's best before date!" variety. So I'm warning you now, you are going to see this wild rice a few times here before the end of July.
This first version is a salad lunch I made with whatever else was in fridge at the time. Washed 1/2 cup rice and soaked it for 15 minutes. Then added 1 cup water, brought it to a boil and simmered until the water was absorbed and the rice was cooked. You can substitute any rice of your choice and cook it as the package dictates.
While the rice was cooking, I sliced two spring onions thinly. Placed a handful of peanuts in a microwave safe dish and microwaved them for 2 minutes to get them crunchy. Cleaned a small bunch of mint, tore a handful of leaves roughly and left another handful intact. I also juiced a lemon (lime if you are from out of India) - got roughly a tbsp and added a tbsp of water to stretch my dressing. And then I made a layered salad.
First in the glass went a layer of rice. On this I generously sprinkled salt, pepper and sumac. I then added a bit of lemon juice and a couple of torn mint leaves. Remember this dressing, for this goes over all the layers. The next layer was spring onions, followed by more rice, then peanuts, another rice layer and finally a topping of all those whole mint leaves. Add the dressing, and all the lemon juice you were left with.
A word for food bloggers : I made this when the rice was still warm, which means the glass mists over. But if you wait until the rice is cold and your dish looks prettier, it won't taste as good. So it's between good taste and good looks, and taste wins for me each time!
Wild Rice and Mint Salad goes to Ashwini, who is hosting Mahanadi's JFI: Mint this month.
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