Wild Rice Salad with Walnuts, Lemons and Parsley {GF, Vegan}

This vegan wild rice salad with walnuts, lemons, parsley and nutritional yeast makes for the perfect dinner side dish or even full entree. Gluten Free too. 

This wild rice salad had an interesting start. As in it started out as a stuffed mushroom filling, inspired by the Minimalist Baker blog. It was the day before Thanksgiving and I was browsing the internet for stuffed mushroom recipes, as I felt very strongly that I need to make those for Thanksgiving. And then I came across a vegan stuffed mushroom recipe with a wild rice filling.

I made the recipe and ended up with way way way too much filling. Guess my mushrooms were disproportionately small ?

So I ended up turning the remaining filling into a wild rice salad – with the addition of parsley, lemon zest and juice (plus the walnuts, garlic and nutritional yeast in the original filling recipe).

We would have mushrooms and wild rice salad. Now the mushrooms were perfectly fine, but the real star at the table was this wild rice salad. I don’t know what it is about it but I just could not get enough. I loved the crunchier texture of the wild rice, especially when paired with nicely toasted walnuts, fresh parsley and zesty lemons. The nutritional yeast gives the wild rice salad a bit of a cheesier taste too, while still being vegan.

There are no fancy ingredients in this dish, just great flavors that come together and complement eachother, playing off each other’s strengths. For this recipe you only need wild rice, lemons, parsley, garlic, walnuts, and nutritional yeast.

I knew right away that this was a recipe I would be making over and over again. This has quickly become my all time favorite side dish and sometimes I just eat a big bowl of this for lunch.

I just can’t get enough. This medley of flavors is something I’m always craving. The first couple times I made this with just wild rice and this last time I could not find wild rice at the store, so used a wild rice blend (which also includes brown rice, etc). It works well both ways, so you could use either regular wild rice or a blend – whichever you prefer.

Now, wild rice does take a bit longer to cook than regular rice – about 30-35 minutes, and you do not want to overcook it, so you’ll want to keep an eye on it. Most of the time I find that the water is not fully absorbed by the time the rice is cooked to my liking so I just drain the remaining water.

Normally my go to side dish is my vegan almond parsley rice pilaf, but that may have to step aside, for this wild rice salad going forward.

If stuffed mushrooms are more your thing this wild rice salad also works as the perfect filling for those too, though if you ask me, this dish can stand alone as a star. So next time you’re looking for a new vegan and gluten free side dish be sure to give this wild rice salad a try!

5 from 1 vote

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Wild Rice Salad with Walnuts, Lemons and Parsley {GF, Vegan}

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

This vegan wild rice salad with walnuts, lemons, parsley and nutritional yeast makes for the perfect dinner side dish or even full entree. Gluten Free too.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6

Calories: 262 kcal

Author: Vicky

Ingredients

• 1 cup wild rice mix
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup - 1 cup chopped walnuts toasted
• 1 lemon zested
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon gluten free tamari

Instructions

1. Heat pot over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook rice in oil for a few mins then add vegetable broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 mins or until cooked through and fluffy. If rice is cooked but water still remains in the pot, just drain the water (you do not want the rice too soft, or overcooked for this dish)
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat in a pan and add garlic. Cook until fragrant 1-2 minutes.
3. Add walnuts, mix, and add wild rice and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add parsley and nutritional yeast. Add lemon juice and zest. Mix.
5. Serve warm or cold.