Wild Rice Salad with Feta

Well off to university we go. It is the long weekend and not looking forward to driving the main highways..but it will be an adventure. It will be different not having my daughter within earshot, but I've given her wings and now she has to fly..the coop that is. We have been lucky to have her for an extra two years because she attended university here. Now they don't offer what she needs here, so, time to expand the horizons. When we drive to the coast I always pack a picnic lunch for us. This time it was Chicken Lollipops and one of our favourite picnic or anytime salads. It is not a recipe that would suffer from sitting around too long. We always have mini cheesecakes as well with strawberries and whipped cream. Just a little extra treat for driving the open road.

Contrary to what many people believe, wild rice is not rice at all but an aquatic grass found mostly in the Great Lakes of Canada and the Northern States. Not to say it does not grow elsewhere as well. Much of it sold today is not even wild, but cultivated.

Several Native cultures consider wild rice (known as manoomin to be a sacred component to their culture. The rice is harvested by hand, with two people sitting in a canoe, with one knocking rice into the canoe with a pole while the other paddles slowly.

I had read that zizania is the Greek term sometimes used to describe the plant otherwise known as darnel or tares.

Wild rice is used in one of my favourite rice salads with the addition of a variety vegetables and feta cheese.

The photo is taken on the Sunshine Coast north of Gibsons near Sechelt in British Columbia.

**Wild Rice Salad with Feta**

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup wild rice

1/2 cup white rice

3 medium asparagus, chopped

1/2 cup chopped broccoli

1/3 cup carrot, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup sweet red or green pepper, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 teaspoon garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons or more to taste crumbled feta cheese

3/4 tablespoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In saucepan, bring stock to boil; add wild rice and white rice and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes or just until tender. Drain, rinse with cold water and place in serving bowl.

2. Blanch asparagus and broccoli in boiling water until crisp. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add to bowl along with celery, carrot, green onions and red or green pepper; mix well.

Dressing: In small bowl, whisk together garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, cheese, oregano and oil until well combined. Pour over rice mixture and mix well.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Deliscioso!!!!

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