Wild Rice and Hearts of Palm Salad Recipe

After making the hearts of palm crostini, my husband Lulu asked for more. I decided to make a healthier hearts of palm dish this time. I served the veggie in a wild rice salad with refreshing greens such as sugar snap peas, celery and flat-leaf parsley. A little sprinkling of sunflower seeds for crunch and crumbled blue cheese for a richer mouth feel completed the dish.

If cooked improperly, wild rice can be very tough and taste like horse food. Follow the few steps I've outlined, and you'll get soft, delicate rice with a nutty flavor.

Orange-Flavored Spritz Sable Cookies dipped in Dark Chocolate

Spritz sablé cookies are French butter cookies. They have a very rich flavor. Depending on the shape of the cookie and on the baking time, spritz can either be crumbly or have a chewier texture. Spritz sablé cookies are the perfect canvas upon which to introduce other flavors. From the basic recipe, you can make an unlimited number of variations.

My little sister-in-law who is allergic to egg yolks (not egg white, go figure!) loves these cookies. They are one of the few sweet treats she can enjoy. I made some today and flavored them with orange blossom water. I then dipped them in dark chocolate to make them extra decadent.

Wild Rice and Orzo Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

This dish is really three recipes in one. I combined my wild rice, kidney bean salad and orzo pasta salad recipes together to make a light and healthy meal. The maple vinaigrette helps tie everything together.

I usually make orzo pasta salad for parties and picnics, but we've been having a heat wave here and we all felt like eating something cool. The addition of kidney beans for protein and wild rice for fiber makes the dish more of a complete meal. If you have some leftover roast chicken, you can dice or shred it and add it to the salad as well.

How to Cook Perfect Wild Rice

In cooking, there is a difference between simple and easy. Easy recipes don't require a lot of skill to prepare. Then, there are recipes that are simple: that is to say that there are few ingredients, but the preparation of the ingredients may be very complex.

Cooking rice is as much an art as it is a science. I remember watching a program when chef Morimoto talked about how difficult it is to prepare properly seasoned sushi rice. I'm no expert at making sushi rice but I do make a lot of brown, basmati,  jasmine and wild rice for my husband. If cooked improperly, wild rice can taste like horse food. But it doesn't have to be that way, I've discovered some method and techniques that will produce a softer, more delicate end product . Just because wild rice is good for you doesn't mean that it can't taste good as well.

A special note: The wild rice in the picture was given by my father-in-law's friends from Minnesota.