A darkly coloured, but brightly flavoured salad that combines a number of textures. Shown here with sliced tofu in a simple peanut sauce.

Ingredients

1t coarse sea salt divided in quarters
2T of cooking oil, divided
2T of olive oil
2T of lemon, divided
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup wild rice
1 large red pepper, cored, 1/2″ slices
3 scallions, minced (reserve 3-4″ of green for garnish)
1T fresh garlic, minced
100g cremini mushrooms, 1/4″ slices
1/4 cup of slivered almonds
2T tamari, divided
1T of balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
4 cups packed red chard
1 cup packed flat leaf parsley (reserve a few leaves for garnish)

Directions

In a pan with a lid, bring the stock and 1/4t of sea salt to a light boil.
Add the wild rice, cover and simmer on low until all the stock is absorbed (about 45 minutes).
While the wild rice cooks, make the rest of the salad.
Stem the chard leaves, tear the leaves and trim and dice the stems (1/2″ dice).
Chop the parsley coarsely.
Toss in a large bowl.
In a frying pan, bring 1T of cooking oil to heat on medium-high with 1/4t of sea salt.
Saute the red pepper for 3-5 minutes (until it’s a nice bright red).
Deglaze the pan with lemon juice and add the red pepper to the chard and parsley.
Toss to combine.
Bring the remaining 1T of cooking oil to heat on medium-high with 1/4t of sea salt.
Saute the scallions for 2 minutes.
Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.
Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes.
Add the almonds, tamari and garlic, reduce heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes or until the pan is starting to dry but still moist.
Remove from heat, add the nutritional yeast.
Toss to combine.
Add the mushrooms to the chard and parsley.
Toss to combine.
When the wild rice is cooked, add it to the bowl.
Toss to combine.
Whisk 2T of olive oil, 1T of lemon juice, 1T of tamari and 1/4t of coarse sea salt.
Dress the salad and serve garnished with a little sliced scallion green and parsley.