Cranberry and Wild Rice Salad

(makes 8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wild rice, cooked follow package instructions.
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• ½ cup walnuts
  
• 8 oz. fresh cranberries, or thawed frozen
  
• ½ cup sugar
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  
• 3 green onions, chopped (including green tops)
  

Preparation:

• In a large-sized saucepan, combine wild rice, salt and one quart of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 45-60 minutes or until rice is tender to bite and most grains have split open. Drain in a colander and let cool.
  
• At the same time, spread walnuts on a cookie sheet and toast in oven at 325 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Coarsely chop.
  
• Sort cranberries, discarding any stems and bruised or decayed fruit, cut each cranberry in half.
  
• In a small-sized saucepan over medium-high heat, stir the sugar and ½ cup water until the sugar is dissolved and mixture boils. Remove from heat, stir the halved cranberries, stir occasionally for about 8-12 minutes or until insides of cranberries have turned red but are still firm. Pour through a strainer into a bowl, reserving the cranberry-sugar syrup.
  
• Mix wild rice, cranberry halves, olive oil, and rice vinegar in a large bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp cranberry syrup, taste and add up to ¼ cup more syrup to sweeten and moisten salad as desired. Stir in green onions. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.
  
• Stir in walnuts before serving.
  

Make 8 Servings:

Weight Loss Recipes Amount Per Serving(⅛ of recipe (69 g)): 166 Calories, 4 g Protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 3 g Dietary Fiber, 9 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 293 mg sodium