Becassonne Wine & Rice, Succotash Salad

Hope everyone had a great weekend and drank some wine! We had a wonderful lunch with my brother, his new friend Julie, Megan, and Bill and Tina who are going to teach me how to fly fish this upcoming weekend. I am really psyched about this new sport for me. Even though I am learning how to fly fish in Ohio, I am really excited to get back home to Key West and fish in the flats. I am sure I will have lots of stories on this new item!

But we did have time to dive into our third selection of wines from Sam's haul. Our choice was the 2005 Domaine de la Becassonne. Another lovely Cotes-Du-Rhone white. Domaine de la Becassonne is located in the Chateauneuf du Pape Region of the Rhone area in Vaucluse, France and owned by Andre Brunel. His production of this wine included 50% Roussanne, 30% Clairette and 20% Grenache grapes. I found this wine to be a delightful well balanced, medium bodied wine with with flavors and aromas of peach with a hint of flowers present. Nice acidity which added to the lingering crisp finish. A nice summer wine for the price of $12.00. Again I will say that most of the French wine prices have gone out of my budget range, so it is pleasing to discover that there are a few nice, inexpensive, French white wines still out there to be found. It is quite a satisfying adventure to find them!

Now for Wendy at Wee Bit Of Cooking, here is the recipe for a wild rice salad we had the other night. This recipe comes from the June issue of Cooking Light Magazine. Lots of veggies!

Wild Rice and Summer Succotash Salad

Dressing: 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves, 2 tablespoons chopped green onions, 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper and 1 clove of garlic minced and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Mix all of this together in a small bowl and set aside.

1 cup wild rice

1 cup (about 1/4 lb.) of fresh green beans cut into 1-2 inch pieces

1 cup frozen baby lima beans

1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup finely chopped red onion

1 cup diced plum tomato

Romain lettuce leaves that you will place the salad on top

3 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

Cook the rice in 3 cups of boiling water about 45 minutes or until tender. Drain and place rice in a large bowl. Add about 1/4 cup of dressing, toss well and cool. Cook green beans and lima beans in boiling water for about 4 minutes or until tender. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Put in a bowl and add the beans, remaining dressing, bell pepper, celery, onion and tomato. Toss well and add to the rice mixture and toss again. Line your plates with lettuce leaves, put rice salad on top and sprinkle each with almonds! So easy to make and very satisfying. Leftovers the next day are not bad either! Enjoy!

Cheers!