Sweet Potato and Wild Rice Salad with Ginger Dressing
Chewy dark wild rice dressed while warm, browned roasted sweet potato cubes, peppery arugula, toasted pepitas and feta, with a sharp fresh ginger and Dijon dressing. Served at room temperature.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 cup pure wild rice rinsed, not a blend
- 1 ½ lb sweet potatoes peeled, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil for roasting
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt divided, plus salt for the rice water
- ¾ cup raw pepitas toasted
- 5 oz arugula
- ½ cup feta crumbled
- ½ cup green onions thinly sliced
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- black pepper to taste
For the Ginger Dressing
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice fresh
- 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger finely grated
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
Cook the Rice and Roast the Sweet Potato
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well, about 1 teaspoon per quart. Add the rinsed wild rice, reduce to a strong simmer and cook uncovered 40 to 50 minutes. Start tasting at 35 minutes. It is done when about three quarters of the grains have split open to show a pale interior and the chew is like al dente pasta. Drain and do not rinse.
- Meanwhile, put a heavy sheet pan in the oven and heat it to 425F. Toss the 1 inch sweet potato cubes with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt, spread them on the hot pan in a single layer with space between them, and roast 20 minutes without stirring. Flip and roast 10 to 15 minutes more, until the flat faces are deeply browned.
Make the Dressing
- Grate the ginger on a microplane into a small bowl. Add the Dijon, cider vinegar, lime juice, maple syrup, ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper and whisk until smooth.
- Stream in the ⅓ cup olive oil while whisking, until the dressing is a thick pale amber emulsion that clings to the whisk.
Dress Warm and Assemble
- Tip the hot drained rice into a large bowl, pour over about half the dressing, toss, and let it sit 15 minutes. The warm grains absorb the dressing instead of just wearing it.
- Fold in the warm roasted sweet potato cubes gently so they stay whole. Let the bowl come to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Toast the pepitas in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, shaking, until nutty and lightly popping. Cool.
- Fold in the arugula, green onion and dried cranberries with the remaining dressing. Top with the crumbled feta and toasted pepitas, season with black pepper, and serve at room temperature within the hour.
Notes
- Use pure wild rice: a blend cooks unevenly and gives you mush and crunch in the same spoonful.
- Boil it like pasta: a big pot of salted water, uncovered, 40 to 50 minutes, and judge by the split grains rather than the clock.
- Dress the rice hot: the single biggest flavor difference in this recipe. Warm grains absorb the dressing all the way through.
- Cut the cubes a full inch: smaller cubes disintegrate when the salad is tossed.
- Preheat the sheet pan and give the cubes space: touching cubes steam instead of browning.
- Serve at room temperature: cold thickens the olive oil and flattens the ginger, hot wilts the arugula.
- Greens last: arugula, feta and cranberries go in within the hour you serve it.