Sunday, May 30, 2010

STEAK KEBABS & FRUITED WILD RICE SALAD AT MY PARENT"S PLACE



Yesterday Benny was out of town and I had the day off work. Usually this means a big deep cleaning of every nook and cranny in our apartment since I know it will stay that way for a whole 24 hours. And that was exactly what I had planned. Until my mom called to tell me she was making kebabs and would pick me up from the train station if I felt like a trip to the suburbs.

I went right out, hopped on the first train I could catch and typed up blog posts the whole way there. She picked me up and we talked about the things I had been cooking. She asked for some ideas for simple healthy recipes that would get my Dad to eat vegetables. He's an all-american eater who thinks that ice cream sandwiches are a diet food, bless his heart. So needless to say, the second we got back to her house, I went right to tastespotting to find her some recipes.

That's when I remembered the fruited wild rice salad I had been meaning to make. I haven't had the energy to buy the ingredients and my mom just so happened to have all of them! The pictures are pretty sloppy and it looks like a hot mess, but it was delicious.

Also, my mom's kebabs were great. I gave her a bit of trouble about marinating the steak in Italian dressing (they appreciate a shortcut and I prefer to go the route of the purist) but the steak turned out amazingly tender and delicious, so I shouldn't have complained. My dad also happens to be a grill master, so that helps.

FRUITED WILD RICE SALAD
from Healthy Food For Living



Ingredients for salad:

1 cup wild rice, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth (one 14 oz can)
2 cups water
2 thinly sliced green onions, both green & white parts (*I omited these and added grapes and mushrooms)
1 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit of your choice)
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted (or other nut of your choice)
1 large apple, cored and chopped, skin left on
1 large pear, cored and chopped, skin left on
juice from 1/2 lemon
baby spinach

Ingredients for vinaigrette:

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp fruity vinegar (*I used apple cider vinegar, which was a little too bitter for my tastes, I would use less next time)
2 tsp honey (I used a little more than that)
generous pinch Kosher salt, or to taste
a few grinds fresh black pepper, or to taste

Directions:

  1. Combine rice, veggie broth, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir once, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice for 45 minutes. Drain in a colander.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, toss chopped fruit with lemon juice. Set aside.
  4. When rice is cooked and drained, add it to the chopped fruit and stir in the sliced green onions, dried cranberries, and walnuts.
  5. Give the vinaigrette another quick whisk and pour it over the rice salad. Stir to combine.
  6. Cover the rice salad and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or better yet, overnight.
  7. Serve cold or at room temperature atop a bed of baby spinach.



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