Wild Rice & Black Bean Salad

This wild rice and black bean salad is my favorite summer salad! I made it recently and have been enjoying it for lunch and as a side for dinner almost everyday!

Start by bringing two 14 1/2 ounce cans of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water to a broil.

Once the the chicken broth and water come to a boil, and 1 lb of rice and 2 bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook following the instructions on the package of rice. I think my rice cooked for about 40 minutes, but this will vary depending on the kind of wild rice you use. Once the rice if cooked, set it aside to cool because the rice has to be completely cool before adding it to the salad otherwise it will wilt the other ingredients.

Add two 15 ounce cans of drained and rinsed black beans to a large salad bowl.

Chop 3 bell peppers and add them to the salad bowl with the black beans. I chose to use 3 red bell peppers, but you could use any variety of peppers your prefer.

Chop up one red onion and add it to the peppers and black beans. I recommend tasting your onion to see how strong it is before adding it to the salad. If the onion has a really strong taste, you may choose to use only half the onion.

Chop up a medium bunch of cilantro and add it to the salad bowl. I shared this fun trick for chopping herbs that I learned from my mom in my Spaghetti Bolognese recipe. Put the herb you want chopped in a mug and use scissors to cut up the cilantro.

Once your rice is cooled add it too the salad bowl and mix it in.  In a small separate container mix the dressing by whisking together 1/2 cup of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and 1 teaspoon of chili powder. Once the dressing is mixed pour it over the salad and stir it in until well combined.

WILD RICE & BLACK BEAN SALAD
Ingredients:
2- 14 1/2 oz cans of chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 bay leaves
1 lb of Wild Blend Rice
2- 15 oz cans of black beans (drained & rinsed)
3 bell peppers (red, green, yellow or orange)
1 medium red onion (potentially reduced to half, depending on how strong the onion is)
1 medium bunch of fresh cilantro

for the salad dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder 

Directions:
1. Bring chicken broth and water to a boil, add wild rice and bay leaves and bring to a boil again. Once the mixture boils, reduce heat to low, cover and cook following the cooking instructions indicated on the rice's bag
2. While rice is cooling, drain and rinse black beans, chop up bell peppers, red onion and cilantro and combine in a large salad bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, orange juice, red wine vinegar, ground cumin and chili powder to form salad dressing.
4. Once the rice has cooled add it to the large salad bowl and stir in salad dressing.

Enjoy! 
Kenzie