Wild Rice and Artichoke Salad

This is the recipe that originally made me realize that I didn't hate wild rice, artichokes, or capers like I thought I did. Wild rice always smelled swampy to me, and my few attempts at artichokes had left me un-enamored. This recipe seems to bring together these ingredients in such a way that lets them really shine. The original recipe was more involved and called for fresh artichokes, but generally that just seems too time consuming. By using canned artichoke hearts in this recipe, all of the ingredients except for the parsley and red onion are shelf stable, so this can be a quick and easy pantry meal.

ingredients:

3/4 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1 can artichoke hearts
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced

dressing:
1/4 c veg broth
2 T lemon juice
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
several grinds of black pepper
3 T of your good olive oil
2 T capers, minced

finally:
1 generous bunch of fresh parsley, minced

Wash your wild rice by rubbing between your fingers in a bowl of water, strain and rinse in a fine mesh strainer. Cook the wild rice with the 2 bay leaves and 1/2 tsp salt in about 1-3/4 to 2 c water. If there is water leftover after almost all the grains have split and popped, then drain off the rest of the liquid and remove the bay leaves.

While the wild rice is cooking, chop the onion thinly, and quarter the artichoke hearts lengthwise. Once the wild rice is finished cooking put it in a large bowl to cool. I usually add the onion at this point, since the heat of the rice partially cooks them and takes the edge off their bite. If you really like raw onion, feel free to keep them aside until the wild rice is cooled.

Next mix up the dressing. I find the easiest way to do this is to measure the ingredients for the dressing into a small tightly sealing container and shake. Once the dressing is emulsified, you can combine everything. Don't forget to add lots of fresh parsley, as much as you can stand, it really brightens it. I think this salad is best at room temperature because the flavors are dulled too much by cold. It's okay to prep ahead and refrigerate though, just give it a chance to come up to room temperature before serving.