My family celebrated Easter this weekend, and we had quite the spread, including peanut butter banana muffins, egg bake (Thanks Gaye!), roasted potatoes, roasted bell peppers, plenty of fresh fruit (Thanks Kristen!), wild rice salad, and vegan apple pie (Thanks Mom!). I had several requests to post the wild rice salad here, so enjoy!

Sweet and Savory Cranberry Wild Rice

I am not usually a fan of cranberries, but when cooked into savory things, I feel sweetened dried cranberries add a nice subtle flavor. Pour a cup of this rice over some leafy greens and toss with garlic balsamic dressing and you’ve got yourself a lean mean protein-rich salad. I usually make this for parties because it is easy and it gets a lot of complements from vegans and non-vegans alike.

Rice Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups fancy wild rice

4 to 4 and 1/2 cups water (for firmer or fluffier rice, respectively)

1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon No Chicken bouillon

1 clove garlic, minced or mashed

1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries (I use apple juice sweetened ones from Whole Foods)

Around 1 cup sliced almonds

Garlic Balsamic Dressing

Garlic Balsamic Dressing Ingredients

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced or mashed

2 tsp brown sugar

Put the first 5 ingredients in a rice cooker and cook until done (anywhere from 1 and 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on initial water temperature and type of cooker). This can also be done in a covered pot on the stove if need-be. While the rice is cooking, mix all of the dressing ingredients in a jar. Remove the rice from the cooker and toss or top with almonds and dressing.

The rice can be cooked, refrigerated overnight, and then reheated before serving. Leftover dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Tonight we had Tony Horton’s Veggie Chili, one of my favorite chilis from one of my favorite flexitarians. This chili is unique in that you add a whole pile of cocoa powder to it, which yields a very smooth, sweet chili. I have made this chili with a variety of different proteins, from store-bought veggie patties and meatless ground with beans to a simpler version with just pre-cooked lentils. Tonight I used pre-soaked and boiled kidney beans and ground meatless Beefy Beef from The Herbivorous Butcher.

You will have to watch the video to get the whole recipe from Tony, but he tries to make it worth your time by editing out wait time and being a huge goofball. Obviously the cheese at the end is superfluous as it didn’t make onto the list of ingredients.

Would you look at that amazingness? And I didn’t even get the urge to add almond milk or cashew milk, it’s so thick and creamy on its own. The avocado on top is definitely worth it by the way. This may or may not be my second avocado of the day. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?