Wild Rice Salad with Dried Cherries and Pecans

Hope all of you had a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend. Like always it felt really short and went by in a hurry. We had quite a busy weekend with family and friends -- lot of food and some shopping.
Here's a Wild rice salad recipe that I brought to the Thanksgiving party at our dear friends home. Recipe is from Cooking Light magazine. I tweaked it just a little bit to make it a little more tastier. It is colorful and festive looking. It is great addition to the holiday buffet table or as a filling weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

• 1cup Wild Rice
• 2cups Long grain Brown Rice (I used brown basmati)
• 1 Large Leek, finely chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 Large Carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 Medium Turnip, peeled and finely chopped
• 1tbsp Fresh Thyme, chopped
• ½cup Dried cherries
• ⅔cup Pecans, toasted and chopped
• 1tbsp Lemon juice
• To taste Salt & Pepper
• 3 Green Onions, chopped

Method:

1. Cook Wild Rice: Thoroughly rinse and drain wild rice. Bring 4cups of water to a boil, add rice along with salt to taste. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until rice is tender. Drain the excess water, fluff the rice and keep aside.
2. Cook Brown Rice: Combine rice and 3cups of water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer till all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 25~30 minutes.
3. Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan, add leeks, garlic and thyme. Cook for 3~4 minutes.
4. Next add carrot, turnip, salt and pepper. Cover and cook till the veggies are tender, about 6~8 minutes.
5. Add dried cherries, toasted pecans, wild rice and brown rice. Check and adjust the seasoning. Cover and cook for 3~4 minutes for the flavors to mingle. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Sprinkle the chopped green onions on top and serve warm or at room temperature.

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: November -- Week 4'.