Saweet Pecan and Wild Rice Salad

May 18, 2011 By Leanne Vogel July 18, 2015

Do you people watch? If you haven’t tried it, you must! It’s a great way to pass time, especially at the airport!

I was in line at the post office yesterday and as always, was observing the people around me. There was a lady that kept checking her phone for what must have been an important email she was waiting for. The man in front of her wouldn’t stop nervously tapping his left foot. I felt like giving him a hug, but I refrained myself. And then, there was the McPusher. Background: Mom and 3 kids. The two of them were twins; about 7 years old, and the third was maybe 5.

Mom: ‘After we’re done here we’re going to have some dinner’ Kids: ‘Yum, ya! I’m hungry!!’ ‘They have veggie burgers at our favorite restaurant’ ‘Ew, veggie burgers. I don’t like veggie burgers’ ‘You don’t like veggie burgers from Mc…’ ‘MCDONALDS! No veggie burgers from McDonalds!’ ‘We could go to the vegetable restaurant and have wheat grass’ ‘Gross, wheat grass. I want a KidMac!’ [the youngest one started crying at this point because she didn’t want to go to the vegetable restaurant] ‘We could have KidMac’s with extra cucumbers!’ ‘No!!’ ‘We could have KidMac’s with red peppers and deep fried carrots’ ‘No! McDonalds, McDonalds, McDonalds’ [chanting] ‘Okay, we’ll go to McDonalds, no vegetables!’ ‘Yay! I love you, Mom’

Anyone else see something incredibly wrong with this? I stood there in aw. Did that mom just encourage her kids to choose McDonalds over vegetables? [If you’re interested, please see read: Food For Thought: My Personal Reflection on Nutrition Choices, a follow up to the above] Warning: there are LOTS of veggies in this recipe. No deep fried carrots though. :|

Saweet Pecan and Wild Rice Salad

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 5 cups of salad, or 4-6 servings

Black beans, pecans, anise and wild rice tossed in a sweet teriyaki sauce.

Ingredients

½ cup wild rice
½ cup brown basmati rice
2¼ cup water
2 tablespoon soy sauce – I used Braggs soy sauce [gluten free]
1 tablespoon agave or raw unpasteurized honey
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoon arrowroot powder *see note
½ cup black beans
½ cup red pepper, diced
½ cup yellow pepper, diced
¼ cup pecans, chopped
3 tablespoon currants
3 green onions, diced
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ teaspoon anise seed
himalayan rock salt + fresh pepper, to taste

Instructions

To make the rice: place wild rice, basmati, and water in a medium saucepan or rice cooker. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 30-45 minutes, or until water is gone and rice is al dente. Remove cover, transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool for 1 hour.
To make the sauce: combine soy sauce, agave/honey, oil, ginger, and arrowroot in a small bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
Bringing it all together: place remaining veggies, nuts, and spices in a large bowl. Add rice and sauce to the mix and stir to coat.

Notes

Arrowroot powder can be substituted with 1 teaspoon of potato starch or corn starch

View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down)

This salad has been a great addition to my lunch kit this week. The weather has been nice enough this week that I’ve been able to eat outside everyday. Unfortunately the rest of the week doesn’t look so great. It was good while it lasted!

To all the moms out there: do you take your kids to McDonalds? What types of ‘rules’ [if any] do you have around the food that’s in your house?