Kale and Wild Rice Salad

Week 433. Summer 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.

I went for a run this morning — the Saturday routine, the greenbelt, the river, the particular meditation of feet on a path and lungs filling and the body doing what it was told it couldn't do. The running group meets rain or shine.

Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.

Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made watermelon feta salad this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

The watermelon feta went fast — it always does in this house — and by midweek I needed something that could sit at the center of the table and hold its own, something with a little more heft to it after long runs and longer days. This kale and wild rice salad has been in my rotation for years now, the kind of recipe that travels with you through different kitchens and different versions of yourself and always tastes like exactly what you needed.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 cup wild rice, rinsed
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 large bunch curly or lacinato kale, stems removed, leaves finely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the wild rice. Combine wild rice and vegetable broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40–45 minutes until the rice is tender and the grains have begun to split open. Drain any excess liquid and spread on a baking sheet to cool completely.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, and garlic powder until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Massage the kale. Place the chopped kale in a large salad bowl. Drizzle about half the dressing over the kale and use your hands to massage it into the leaves for 1–2 minutes until the kale softens slightly and turns a deeper green.
Assemble the salad. Add the cooled wild rice, dried cranberries, red onion, and toasted nuts to the bowl with the kale. Toss everything together, adding more dressing as desired.
Finish and serve. Top with crumbled feta and an extra squeeze of lemon if you like. Serve immediately or refrigerate — this salad holds up beautifully for up to 2 days, and the flavors deepen as it sits.

Nutrition (per serving)

Kale and Wild Rice Salad — The Food That Connects Every Version of Me