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Walnut Paella Salad

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

Saffron rice:

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup short grain rice (brown or risotto rice)
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 2 cups vegetable stock (if you are using risotto rice, use only 1 1/2 cups stock)
  • 1 cup tomato or V-8 type vegetable juice
  • ½ teaspoon crushed saffron threads
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • Pinch cayenne pepper

Vinaigrette:

  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
  • 3 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

Add ins:

  • 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts , cut in halves or quarters
  • 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)
  • 1 cup cooked organic shelled edamame beans

Spiced Walnuts

  • 1 cup walnut pieces
  • 1 tablespoon walnut oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

Make the rice:

  • Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the rice and the onion and cook and stir until both the onion and the rice begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook and stir another minutes.
  • Stir in the vegetable stock, the tomato juice, and the saffron, bay leaf, salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to very low.
  • Cook until the rice is tender and all of the liquid is absorbed, at least one hour, especially at 7000 feet above sea level. Let the rice stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
  • Turn out into a large bowl and remove the bay leaf.

The vinaigrette:

  • In a small bowl, whisk the garlic, mustard and sherry vinegar. Gradually drizzle in the olive oil, whisking. Season with the salt and pepper, to taste, then stir in the cilantro and parsley. Pour over the rice.
  • Add the artichoke hearts, garbanzo beans and edamame, stir well. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Spiced Walnuts:

  • Drop the walnuts into boiling water, turn off heat and let stand 2 minutes; drain. Heat oil in a large skillet, add the nuts and cook over medium-high heat until toasted, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar, salt, cumin and pepper over the nuts and toss to coat.
  • To serve, stir in half of the spiced walnuts.
  • Sprinkle more spiced walnuts over the top to garnish.