Wild Rice Salad

I like Peter Berley's [yeah, he let his site implode] cookbooks. Not everyone does. Hell, I even like his books notwithstanding the fact that unlike any other microcelebrity I've contacted on the web, he's never responded to any of my email. A note on that last link: Now I'm not a vegan, even though I eat that way much of the time, but even I was a bit put off by Berley's remarks on how vegetarianism is "adolescent." The irony of his comment isn't so much that he's built his entire reputation (as far as I can tell) on vegetarian cooking, it's that Flexitarian Table is by far his weakest work. The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen is quite good though, even if he seemingly takes every opportunity to resort to dairy.

Wild Rice Salad
Adapted from Peter Berley, The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen (2000)

• 1 Cu. wild rice
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 handful of sun-dried tomatoes
• 2/3 Cu. sliced, blanched almonds
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 cu. red, yellow, orange sweet peppers, cut in a largish dice
• 1/2 Cu. dried currants

Simmer the wild rice in two quarts of water until tender (about 40 minutes) then drain and cool in cold water and drain again thoroughly. Boil the tomatoes in water for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and let soak for about twenty minutes. When the tomatoes are done soaking, drain, dry and chop them. Roast the almonds in a cast iron skillet. Steam the carrots and onions for a few minutes, then cool in the cold water. Assemble all of the prepared ingredients above in a bowl and dress with a vinaigrette of sherry wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped dill, salt and pepper.