Chere Sarah,

The other day, Dash was playing in the living room while I was making something in the kitchen. After awhile, he put down his matchbox cars and came over to me, stared thoughtfully for a minute while I cooked, then said, "Mommy, is the stove your very faaaaaaavorite toy?"

I'm still smiling.

So here's a recipe for an easy wild rice salad that I made using my favorite toy. There's something about wild rice that feels so perfectly "September" to me...do you know what I mean? This is one of those dishes that only gets better with time, so while it's creamy and subtle on day one, its leftovers are even more flavorful on days two and three.

Wild Rice Salad with Lemon-Tahini Dressing
Serves 4-6

1 cup brown rice
1/3 cup wild rice
2 2 1/4 cups water
2 small red and green bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup tahini
juice of half a lemon
2-3 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon honey (agave if you're vegan)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water, brown rice and wild rice. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and cover. Cook for 30-45 minutes, adding more water if needed, until rice is tender. Once cooked, let cool for 5-10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Mix the cooled rice with the bell peppers and parsley.

In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, tamari, honey and rice vinegar. Pour the dressing over the rice. Serve or cover and refrigerate and serve chilled.

Here are a few other wild rice salads from around the web that I thought looked good....

Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Lemon-Tahini Dressing, via David Lebovitz

Black and Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Squash, via Bon Appetit

Wild Rice Salad with Miso Dressing, via Sprouted Kitchen

(Note: sadly I can't find the source of the recipe despite several google attempts! So whoever originated this one...thank you!)