Wild Rice Salad with Dried Fruit and Orange-Sherry Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 0.8 cup apricots dried diced
• 0.3 cup celery diced
• 16 ounce rice wild cooled cooked room temperature
• 0.3 cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
• 0.5 cup golden raisins 
• 0.3 cup olive oil 
• 1 cup orange juice fresh (3 oranges)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest 
• 1 cup pecans coarsely chopped
• 0.3 teaspoon pepper freshly ground
• 0.8 teaspoon salt 
• 0.3 cup shallots minced
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar 

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• sauce pan
• oven
• whisk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 35
2. Place pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan; bake, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until toasted. Set aside.
3. Bring orange juice to a boil in a medium saucepan.
4. Add apricots and raisins; remove from heat, cover, and let stand 15 minutes.
5. Whisk together vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; gradually whisk in olive oil. Stir in orange zest, shallot, celery, parsley, fruits with their soaking liquid, and prepared rice; stir to combine. Stir in toasted pecans just before serving.