Sunday 5 May 2013

Rice Salad in the Sunshine

What a week we have had weather-wise!  Glorious non-stop sunshine and it isn't ending any time soon... We have had a mammoth afternoon of planting flowers and herbs again (in our DIY herb garden I posted about a couple of weeks ago!) and are about to enjoy a yummy bbq dinner on the balcony :-)

In addition to the sunshine, I also finally created a Facebook page for Sew Lah Tea Dough - after 4 months live to the world I thought it was about time.  I would love for you to 'Like' my page and follow me there.  Click here to find me, and get post updates right to your news feed!

Inspired by the sunshine this week I got to work making a cold salad for a weeknight dinner.  We had made it once before, last year some time but I changed up the ingredients a little this week and got it ready to go.  As I have mentioned before, coming home from teaching piano late in the evening doesn't always mean for much fun getting dinner prepared and eaten before I fall asleep!  This was a perfect side dish that I could prepare in the daytime and it would be ready to eat all week long.



Added bonus... my husband LOVES it!  So we'll definitely be making it again really soon, like this week again maybe!!

Here is the recipe with the ingredients I chose to add in and the amounts of each.  But the best thing about this recipe is how interchangeable it all is.  If you like nuts a lot, add more... if you don't like cranberries but you do like raisins, then sure, why not - switch it up!!


INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups brown or white and wild rice blend
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Here are the extras I added:

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (last year we did big chunks and these weren't so nice to eat whole, this time the finely chopped pieces were so much nicer!)
1/4 cup green onion (yes, that's what they call spring onion!) - this was about 2 sprigs out of the bunch
1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup sliced and blanched almonds - toasted first for about 2 minutes
1/2 cup cooked and cooled sweetcorn
50g feta cheese, just less than 1/2 cup of small cubes

For the dressing:

1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp honey


METHOD:

1.  Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan.

2.  Add rice and salt.

3.  Bring down to a gentle simmer, cover with the lid and cook for 18 minutes (or as your rice packaging suggests)

4.  Fluff with a fork and leave to cool.

5.  Refrigerate if not using right away.  I kept mine in the fridge until that evening when I got home from work and threw in the additional flavours and ingredients.

6.  Mix all of the "extras" into the cooled rice.




7.  Combine dressing ingredients and stir into rice mix.

8.  Scoop and serve!! Enjoy!

This recipe made 5 cups of salad.  Perhaps enough for 6-8 servings, depending on how hungry you are (and for us, that definitely meant 6 not 8...oops!)



I would love to know what flavours or ingredients you prefer, or what additions you would make to this!  Drop me a comment and let me know :-)



20 comments:

  1. Thanks for joining us at Marvelous Mondays~ Paula

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    1. Thank you for having me! It was great to check out some of the links from last week`s party :-)

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  2. Yummy! I'm hosting a new linky party at http://hickorytrailblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/efforts-and-assets-linky-party-1.html

    I would love to have you!
    Angela

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    1. Hi Angela, thanks for the invite! AND WOW 200 projects linked up in Week 1, amazing! I just linked up but I`ll be back at the beginning of the party tomorrow as well! Great to have you here!

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  3. This looks like a wonderful light Summer recipe! Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday at http://happyandblessedhome.com

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    1. Thanks for hosting your party, it was great to see everybody`s projects :-) Thanks for checking out my rice salad!

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  4. I love cold rice salad! This looks delicious. :)

    Thanks for linking up at Much Ado About Monday. We hope to see you back next week!

    ~Emily
    www.huckleberrylove.com

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    1. Thanks so much Emily! It is yummy, we made it again this weekend for Mother`s Day but I`m sad to say there are hardly any leftovers!

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  5. I'll bet this is delicious! Thank you for sharing it at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a great weekend!

    Hugs,
    Deborah

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    1. Thanks so much Deborah! Can`t wait to link up again this week and see everybody`s new projects :-)

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  6. Looks very yummy! I love anything with feta...

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    1. Me too! It adds a different texture to the salad as well :-) Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Almonds and cranberries in rice?! I love that idea! This would be an easy way to slip in some extra nutrients for my son! :)Love the idea of cutting the sweetness with salty feta, too! I can't wait to make this. Thank you so much for linking up with me this week at Tasty Tuesdays! I’ve pinned this & shared it with my followers!

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    1. Yes!! It is an easy way to slip in nutrients for me too (I am bad at the whole fruit and veg thing hehe)! Hope you try this out, it is so yummy!! Let me know :-D Thanks for pinning, and for stopping by!

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  8. This sounds wonderful! I've pinned this to try :) We can't wait to see what you share at tomorrow's All My Bloggy Friends!

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    1. Oh yey thanks Jamie for pinning it, I do hope you get to try it - it is a new favourite for me, and my family so I hope you like it too :-)

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  9. Looks so yummy!
    Thank you so much for linking on Tutorial Thursdays Linky Party :)
    I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us this week!
    x
    Natalie
    Marigolds' Loft

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    1. Thanks Natalie!! It's a new favourite for sure :-)

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  10. What a great salad. I love all the additions :) Thanks so much for linking up with me @ Great Idea Thursday's! Krista @ A Handful of Everything

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    1. Thanks so much Krista, you can just put anything you like in too - these are just my favourites! Thanks for hosting, so glad I could come link up :-)

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Thanks for reading!! Please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you :-)