Brown Rice Salad

CRUNCHY BROWN RICE SALAD
A lovely high fibre salad that everybody loves. A friend who dared to cook for ‘the chef’, made this salad for me and I asked her for the recipe. This is my similar version of that recipe, as I have adjusted the dressing ever so slightly. As for the origin of the original recipe we are unsure.

serves 6
V GF
what you need
2 cups (400g) brown rice
6 green shallots, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
1/3 cup (55g) currants
60g roasted unsalted cashews, finely chopped
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
soy sauce dressing
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp caramelised balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed, grated or finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

what you do
1. Place the rice into a sieve and rinse under cold running water; drain. Place 4 cups of water into a large saucepan and bring it to the boil.
2. Add the rice, stir briefly, return to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stand with the lid on for 5 minutes, then spread out onto a flat tray to cool.
3. For the dressing, put all the ingredients into a glass jar. Seal tightly and shake well to combine. Set aside.
4. Combine the cooled rice and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with the dressing, and mix well. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes for the rice to absorb all the flavours (place in the fridge if leaving for more than 30 minutes).

brown rice is rice which has had the husk removed, but retains the germ and bran layer (unlike white rice which has had all these removed). For this reason it is more nutritious than white rice, as it retains the thiamine (vitamin B1) and niacin (vitamin B3), as well as iron and fibre from the unprocessed grain. Both forms of rice have the same amount of kilojoules, carbohydrates and protein, but brown rice is the much healthier option. Brown rice has a nuttier flavour and slightly more chewy texture than white rice and takes around twice the time to cook.      

© Jane Grover - NAKED FOOD - the way food was meant to be