Ingredients:
4 cups cooked black rice, cooled
1 pint pickled nectarines or peaches, drained and diced
1/2 red onion, large dice
1 lb snap peas, steamed
1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Toss the rice, pickled nectarines, red onion and peas. Sprinkle with herbs and spices. Drizzle with olive oil. Refrigerate at least 1 hour prior to serving.

My thoughts:

I’m still on my crusade to use up all of the the jam, pickles, fruit ketchup, butter and barbecue sauce I made last year. These pickled nectarines (actually this jar was a mix of nectarines and peaches) was one of my favorites. They are super flavorful with a fruity pucker than pretty much eliminates the need for much of a dressing. Just let the salad mellow a bit and it will infuse itself with flavor.

I like sharing recipes using home canned foods (or artisanal canned foods you bought) because it really brings the whole canning enterprise full circle. The number one question I get about canning is “what do you do with all the food you can”. I do try to stick with small batch canning when possible so I don’t end up with a lot of any one food and I give away some jars to friends but I really do try to use as much as I can myself. I do know it is a daunting task so I created a tag of all my recipes that use food I canned myself and a Pinterest board that might be of use to those in need.

Back to the salad, I was excited to see black rice at Costco of all places, so I thought I’d make a cold salad with it. Similarly to wild rice (which isn’t even a true rice!) it holds its shape really well even when cold and tossed with other ingredients. It has a nutty flavor that can stand up against strong flavors, like that of the pickles. A substantial yet refreshing salad for a spring meal.

Note: You can make a quick pickle version of the pickled nectarines or peaches. Follow the instructions but refrigerate them instead of canning them. Eat within 2 months.