Wild Rice with Grapefruit and Bok Choy Salad

It's May!  Do you know what that means?  It means the summer farmer's markets are finally starting to open!  I am so excited, it's a bit ridiculous.

In honor of this annually momentous occasion I decided to get out of my cooking comfort zone and try a new vegetable.  The vegetable of choice was bok choy.  Thank you Pak Express Farm!

So, the choice of bok choy was only the first step.  Next comes deciding what to do with it.  Bok choy is a traditional addition in stir fry, but if I was trying to branch out in vegetable choices, it seemed kinda lame to jump to the most obvious food choice.

Since my thinking always tends to be a bit circular, I happened to have wild rice salads on the brain thanks to browsing a new cookbook.  So...we have wild rice and bok choy on the brain so why not use them together?  However, a "salad" with just wild rice and bok choy sounds not so exciting.  Enter grapefruit.  I managed to convince my family to do a Feast of the Seven Fishes in lieu of our normal Christmas dinner and one of the dishes I put together was a squid and grapefruit salad.

I was hit by how fantastic the grapefruit was in a salad.  I also really enjoyed the accompanying grapefruit vinaigrette. Having that sweet citrus-y addition put the squid salad over the top.  My goal was to use the grapefruit to do the same thing here and I feel like I succeeded.  I'm pretty excited about this salad and think it will become a new summer staple.

Wild Rice with Grapefruit and Bok Choy Salad

Ingredients:

3 c. cooked wild rice and long grain blend

2 heads bok choy - sliced, stems and leaves separated

1 medium shallot - sliced

1 grapefruit - 1/2 juiced, 1/2 cut in chunks

1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

4 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:  

Cook the rice as directed on package, set aside to cool.

Heat some oil or butter in a large skillet over medium and cook shallots until they begin to soften - approximately 3 - 5 minutes.  Add bok choy stems and cook an additional 5 minutes, until they soften.

Add the bok choy leaves and cook until wilted, about another 2 minutes.

Take off the heat and mix with the rice.

Whisk the grapefruit juice, vinegar, and olive oil until emulsified.  Incorporate into the rice mixture along with the grapefruit chunks.

I was really pleased with this salad.  It had a great fresh flavor to it.  This will make an excellent side dish during summer when  you want to keep your meals light.  Enjoy!