more for me: wild rice summer crunch salad

blueberry & wild rice summer crunch salad | everybody likes sandwiches

Chewy, crunchy, creamy and fresh. This salad is bang on. It’s what I like to eat on hot summer evenings. The bottle of pinot gris wasn’t chilled enough to accompany this dinner salad, but I can only imagine it would have been a nice pairing.

blueberry & wild rice summer crunch salad | everybody likes sandwiches

Earlier this week, I had a box of blueberries delivered to my door (thanks so much BC Blueberries!). British Columbia grows about 95% of Canada’s blueberries and they’re having a bumper crop this year. I checked at my local market and found local BC berries selling for $1.99/lb!

blueberry & wild rice summer crunch salad | everybody likes sandwiches

We’ve been snacking on them in the raw, adding them into our granola & yogurt and they make a fine topping to french toast dripping with maple syrup on a Saturday morning. I have plans on trying a blueberry shortcake and this version over at Lotte & Doof sounds pretty wonderful. But in the meantime, there’s this salad.

blueberry & wild rice summer crunch salad | everybody likes sandwiches

I loved this salad a whole lot. When I woke up this morning, I had the leftovers for breakfast. I’m a bit bummed to admit that Cornelius wasn’t as enamoured about this salad as I was. He doesn’t like brown rice or wild rice and this salad has both. However, he loves blueberries and I thought because of all the textures and flavours it was something he’d get over, but nope. More salad for me then. The photo below? My breakfast bowl. With blue cheese crumbled over top. That’s apparently how I roll at 10 am.

blueberry & wild rice summer crunch salad | everybody likes sandwiches

18 comments to “more for me: wild rice summer crunch salad”

  1. 1
    Joanne   July 22, 2013 at 3:25 am

    I love how there’s a good mix of sweet and savory in this! Plus it’s just so pretty.

  2. 2
    Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar   July 22, 2013 at 4:41 am

    This salad sounds absolutely perfect! Everything I want in a salad is in here…plus blueberries! Yum!

  3. 3
    Wizzy   July 22, 2013 at 10:45 am

    I envy you your fresh blueberries so good in everything from salad to breakfast. No blueberries where I live. It’s mango season here.

  4. 4
    Kasey   July 22, 2013 at 11:20 am

    I love the idea of throwing some blueberries in a rice salad. Sounds like the perfect way to an a summer evening.

  5. 5
    Nicole   July 23, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    These photos! I love how the blue just pops! I’m bummed when I get really excited about a recipe and Marc is kind of eh about it. But you’re right, more for us! I love all of the flavors and textures in this salad and the addition of bleu cheese? YEP!

  6. 6
    kickpleat   July 23, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    Agreed, Joanne! I love how gorgeous the blues are 🙂

    Katrina, thanks! It’s a keeper.

    Wizzy, I wish I liked mangos! Though I’m sure plenty of people would love to be in your position!!

    Yes, Kasey, it’s a great quick meal to throw together. Summer dish FTW.

    Thanks Nicole, the blues are so pretty – you don’t have to do a thing to them. And yes to the cheese!! Glad I’m not alone on the recipe front between partners. Sigh.

  7. 7
    lyndsay // coco cake land   July 25, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    jeannette! dang, this salad looks great! healthy summer and blueberry harvest mania. love it and definitely going to try it! chewy crunchy creamy fresh are my keywords!!

  8. 8
    Caz   July 25, 2013 at 9:53 pm

    I love rice salads, the mix of sweet and savoury really appeals to me. This looks so delicious and the colours are gorgeous. Lucky for me my husband likes brown rice but there are plenty of other foods he doesn’t like that drive me mad. 🙂

  9. 9
    Joanne (Bijoux)   July 27, 2013 at 5:25 am

    What a beautiful composition! I love this shade of blue from the bowl and the berries and this salad sounds so wonderful too. I’ve never thought to add fresh blueberries to a rice dish or a salad before, but why not? Did I mention how fortunate you are to have local blueberries at your reach? My question is why I can’t find any in TO?

  10. 10
    kickpleat   July 28, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    Yay, thanks Lyndsay!

    It’s so frustrating, isn’t it Caz when our partners like different things! At least you’ve got brown rice to share.

    I love the blue too, Joanne. BC grows almost all of Canada’s blueberries & I hope you can find some. But Michigan is awfully close & they’d go through much less travel time than BC ones.

  11. 11
    Joanne (Bijoux)   July 28, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    kickpleat, I bought some local blueberries on Saturday at the Farmer’s market…$6 for 1/2 pint! Are they that pricey in B.C.?

  12. 12
    kickpleat   July 28, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    Joanne, they’re really cheap here – because they’re local. Last time I looked they were around .99/lb. They have to travel far to Toronto, hence the added cost. Boo!

  13. 13
    Caterina   July 29, 2013 at 11:07 am

    This salad is soooo good – nice and hearty for lunches or to serve with grilled meat. I had to make a few substitutions for what I had (no celery, red and yellow bell pepper, and lemon instead of lime). I couldn’t stop eating it! Thanks for the great recipe.

  14. 14
    kickpleat   August 3, 2013 at 1:27 pm

    Caterina, so glad you liked this one. I’m glad the lime juice was a good swap. Yum!

  15. 15
    Sara   August 6, 2013 at 4:23 pm

    This sounds great! I am allergic to mustard, though, and I’m always bummed that my vinaigrettes lack depth … I wonder if you know of any good substitutes?

  16. 16
    kickpleat   August 6, 2013 at 11:10 pm

    Sara, the dijon helps to give most vinaigrettes body as well as flavour. You could try nutritional yeast (I use it to make a great dressing here: http://everybodylikessandwiches.com/2012/06/glorious-bowl/) as it does have it’s own unique flavour. I’d also suggest instead of just using one vinegar or just lemon juice in a vinaigrette, try a mix of lemon juice, cider vinegar or wine vinegar – pick 2! Good luck!

  17. 17
    Marie   September 8, 2013 at 7:27 am

    Delicious, I substituted goat cheese for the blue and it was yummy!

  18. 18
    kickpleat   September 8, 2013 at 9:19 am

    Yay, I think feta or goat cheese would be wonderful here too, Marie. So glad you made & enjoyed this one!

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