Salads galore

I love salads. All kinds of them. They are quick and easy to make, healthy (well, if you don't put a cup of dressing in them like I tend to do), and look pretty. Before Jay moved in I used to have a green salad for dinner every night, seven days a week. I would add protein by using eggs or chicken in them. Salads were so easy to make and I just didn't feel like making fancy meals just for myself. Now that I cook for the two of us I experiment a lot with recipes but I still try to make a salad for dinner once in a while just to lighten things up a bit.

I discovered this recipe a few months ago and have made this salad at least five times since (which is a lot for me). It was a great meal to have on hot summer nights as it's light and you eat it cold. I've made it for friends and everyone loved it and asked for the recipe. So here you go. You're welcome.

Curried Wild Rice and Chickpea Salad

picture and recipe adapted from La Kocinera

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice (I use the mix of wild and brown rice since they don't carry pure wild rice at my grocery store)
2 1/2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound smoked ham (I love smoked duck so I use it instead. You can skip the meat altogether), diced
8 small green onions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
hot sauce—such as Tabasco—to taste

Directions:
1. Cook the wild rice according to package instructions.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, curry powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Add olive oil, whisking until combined.
3. Add the chickpeas, ham, green onions, and wild rice, tossing to coat with dressing.
4. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce, to taste, again stirring to combine.
Serve at room temperature.