Summer Wild Rice Salad With Corn {Vegan Optional}

Prep time: Easy

Yield: 4 main dish or 6 side dish servings

1 cup wild rice

2-3 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water

1 cup frozen or canned corn

1-2 scallions, chopped

3 Tbsp EVOO

3 Tbsp lime juice

One bunch fresh parsley, chopped (about 1/4 cup, probably)

Cook wild rice & corn together in broth. (I used my Instant pot and did 3 cups liquid, 25 minutes, with a 10 minute pressure release; when I released it there was still a lot of liquid and the rice was a little overcooked, so I'm going to try decreasing both the liquid and cooking time very slightly next time.) If there's liquid remaining after rice is tender and fluffy—which isn't uncommon with wild rice in my experience—strain it off with a fine mesh sieve. Return to pot with the heat off; add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Can be served warm or (theoretically) cold.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Rating: 5 stars

Prep time: Super easy

Someone gave us some beautiful garden spinach the other night, but since we haven't eaten much salad in the past year (it hasn't done well with my stomach issues) we didn't have any dressings on hand. Though Mahon and I are both diehard Ranch dressing fans, we wanted something quick and easy the other night to eat our spinach with. We both also happen to be diehard fruit vinaigrette fans, so I took a few nearly-dead strawberries in our fridge and whipped up this strawberry vinaigrette! It turned out PERFECT, and was so easy to make!

1/4 cup mashed strawberries

Just under 1/3 cup vinegar (we used red wine vinegar because that's what we had; I would imagine it would also be good with white wine vinegar, balsamic, or maybe even apple cider—anything but regular white, probably)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Honey to taste (I probably used a little under a tablespoon)

Mash strawberries with fork until they are well mashed and separated, but not pureed. Add vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix vigorously with a fork until liquids are combined. Add honey a little at a time until the dressing reaches the desired flavor—it shouldn't be sweet, but it shouldn't be take-the-roof-of-your-mouth-off sour, either. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Serve over any kind of salad—it was to die for on our fresh spinach!