The perfect summer salad.

For me, summer eating equals bbq, fresh fruits and veggies, and the entree salad. 

A great entree salad is all about the texture! You want chewy, and crunchy, and citrus, and sweet, and just enough dressing to keep it from being dry. Your dressing should never really need to add flavor to the salad, just to brighten it up, and make it all tie together. 

This healthy ancient grain salad is made with wild rice, farro, and red quinoa, livened up with lots of colorful extras. And you don’t have to be vegan or vegetarian to appreciate the the satisfying chew of the grains and the crunch of the celery and nuts. Dried cranberries and juicy pomegranate seeds guarantee that every bite finishes with an explosion of sweet. 

You might wonder, what ARE ancient grains? Well, they’re super healthy grains, some of which used to grow naturally, some of which fell out of fashion, and some that stopped being grown because refined flour became the most popular baking grain and was more profitable to grow. We are re-learning that they offer an important diversity that we’ve lost in our modern diets.  Many people who are gluten intolerant, are finding that they are able to tolerate the unmodified variants emmer and farro, so these can really open up a less restrictive diet for them. There are a ton of varieties that can be used to add taste and texture to your cooking. 

So, I went a bit crazy with this salad, and threw in everything but the kitchen sink. There are several things I always like to include in an entree salad. Greens other than iceberg, some type of onion for bite, some type of nut or seed for crunch, some grain for a chewy factor, and some contrast, like a sweet or crunchy fruit. 

Ingredients:

 1 cup cooked wild rice 1 cup cooked red quinoa 1 cup cooked farro 

1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts 1/4 cup toasted chopped pecans 1/4 cup pistachios, rough chopped 

1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup dried apricots,  1/4 cup golden raisins, 1/4 cup fresh pomegranate  

1 bunch thinly sliced scallions scallions and 1/4 large red onion, 

minced several small inner stalks of celery, finely diced, with the green leafy parts 

 1/2 cup olive oil 5 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tsp sweet mustard salt and pepper to taste Instructions 

1. Toss all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. 2. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and add enough to the salad to moisten everything. Reserve any unused dressing for adding right before serving if needed. 3. Cover and refrigerate until serving. The salad can be made up to a day ahead. Sprinkle with more pomegranate seeds just before serving. If you want more protein or greens add chopped spinach or chicken. 

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