Wild Rice & Chickpea Salad (Sue Bishoff)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups wild rice (Uncle Ben's Wild Rice mix can be substituted, without seasoning packet)
2 1/2 Tb fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Tb red wine vinegar
2 Tb Dijon-mustard
1 Tb honey
1 tsp curry powder
1 Tb ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 lb smoked ham, diced (optional)
8 small green onions (white & light parts only) thinly sliced
1/4 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries
salt & pepper


Directions:

Fill a large saucepan 3/4 full of water and bring to boil. Add the wild rice and salt and simmer over medium heat until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and rinse the rice under cold water.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, honey, curry powder, cumin & cayenne. Add the olive oil and whisk until combined. Toss in the chickpeas, ham, green onions, raisins and wild rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

(Note: the first time I made this I used the Uncle Ben's rice. The next time (what you tasted) I used Sprout's country rice blend (from the bulk section). There ended up being less rice with the Uncle Ben's box, so the dressing was much heavier. The second time I used about 1 1/2 Tb mustard & liked it better.