Salad: J. Alexander’s Wild Rice Orzo

One of my regular summer salads is the one you see below, with it’s abundance of ingredients and confetti colors.

This is actually one of the first recipes I ever blogged. If you were to dig deep into the archives, you’ll see that it’s from way back in 2010, the writing is horrid and that I use way too many exclamation points. Oh wait, I still do. Ha. (Struggling not to insert these —>!!!)

If I close my eyes I can still remember blogging that first post. My bff Nichole helping me chop (at the time I owned one knife and one cutting board) and mince and whisk, while I snapped photos with my crappy Canon point-and-shoot. I felt so professional. Never mind that the photos are shoddy, blurry, completely unappetizing and have since been deleted- at the time I thought they were AH-MAZING! They were so not.

This time around, I’m giving my beloved wild rice orzo salad a redo with better photos, more precise, accurate and fresh ingredients and still keeping the same great, colorful, healthy and satisfying salad.

There is a lot of texture and flavor happening here. From the crunch of the peppers and almonds, the wholesome flavor of the rice and wheat berries… and that dressing! I think this salad benefits from some time in the fridge, I try to make it far enough in advance that it can chill for a few hours.

Serve this wild rice orzo salad as a side to salmon or shrimp, grilled chicken or as a meatless main dish.

For this J. Alexander’s Will Rice Orzo Salad Gather:

for the dressing:

• basil (fresh) – For bright herbaceous flavor.
• oregano (fresh) – Adds a distinct earthy and slightly bitter flavor.
• thyme (fresh) – Has an earthy, slightly minty and lemony flavor.
• garlic – Adds distinct punchy flavor.
• sugar – Gives the dressing a touch of sweetness.
• kosher salt – Helps to enhance the flavors in this dish.
• freshly ground black pepper – Adds some subtle bite and flavor.
• champagne vinegar – A lighter vinegar that can be fruity, floral and with hints of vanilla.
• olive oil – Use quality olive oil that’s meant for dipping or drizzling. Worth keeping Graza (not sponsored).

for the salad:

• wild rice blend – Typically a mixture of black, brown, red, and wild rice.
• red winter wheat berries – I have the hardest time finding this in stores near me. So I’ve linked it in the recipe printable.
• orzo pasta – Delallo is my go-to brand for orzo pasta (not sponsored). It has the go-to shape in my opinion.
• bell peppers – Worth keeping a rainbow of color so I use red, orange, yellow and green.
• sweet corn – Thawed and drained of water if frozen. If using corn on the cob, cook it first before adding.
• red onion – Or substitute with a finely diced shallot.
• toasted sliced almonds – May substitute with sunflower seeds if allergic.
• zante currants – Can substitute with chopped raisins if you can’t find currants.
• parsley – Adds an additional pop of color.

Make The Dressing:

Start by grabbing a bowl, jar or whatever you’ve got; and add 1 tablespoon of thinly sliced basil, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano and 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, grate in a medium clove of garlic (about 3/4 of a teaspoon), 1-1/2 tablespoons of sugar (or honey) to sweeten the dressing a smidge. Then pour in 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar.

Next, whisk while pouring in 1/2 cup olive oil season with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper and set aside.

Make The Salad:

First, into a quite large bowl (you’ll need lots of room when it comes to mixing) add the 3 cups of cooked wild rice, 2 cups of the cooked red winter wheat berries and 2 cups of cook orzo. I used DeLallo brand because I think their orzo is the prettiest, all long and slender like.

NOTE: The dry measurements will be listed in the instructions. Only follow package directions for cooking.

Next add in a 1/2 cup of each color (red, orange, yellow and green) diced bell peppers, 1 cup sweet corn, 1/3 cup finely diced red onion, 1/2 cup pan-toasted sliced almonds, 1/3 cup currents. These taste similar to raisins and add the reliable touch of sweetness.

Lastly, throw in 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley.

Then toss these ingredients together.

Next, pour in all of the champagne and herb vinaigrette…

Then toss one more time.

Finally it’s time to serve this salad!

Enjoy! And if you give this Wild Rice Orzo Salad a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!