Tropical Rice Salad with Sesame Orange Dressing
A truly superior version of rice salad. The dressing is particularly gorgeous.
Top Tip: try varying the vegetables according to your budget and what needs using up in the fridge! Any of these work well:
- grated carrot
- mangetout
- lightly steamed French beans
- shredded lettuce (eg cos)
- lightly steamed fresh soya beans (edamame)
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Total time
30 minutes
Cuisine
Southeast Asian
Meal
- mains
- sides-light-meals-and-salads
- vegetable-side-dishes
Servings
4
Ingredients
- Pre-cooked rice: 450g/1lb brown long grain or brown basmati
- Rice from scratch, raw: 200g/7oz long grain OR basmati brown rice simmered in water with added 1 tsp vegan bouillon powder (eg Marigold red tub or Kallo OR 1 Green Oxo)
Salad
- 1 thick slice of fresh ripe pineapple, cored and cut into medium cubes OR half a mango, peeled and cubed (unsweetened frozen or tinned pineapple/mango will also work)
- 1 small, ripe avocado, peeled, stone removed and chopped into medium cubes
- 2 spring onions, chopped + 3 more left whole for decoration
- ½ stalk celery, finely chopped
- ½ pack bean sprouts, washed and drained
- 1 tbsp raisins (omit these if you hate them – but try experimenting with chopped apricots)
- 2 tbsp whole peanuts
- 2 tbsp toasted cashew pieces
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- ½ a red pepper
- ½ a yellow or orange pepper
Dressing
- 40ml/1 generous tbsp plain vegetable oil
- 1½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 60ml/4 tbsp fresh orange or pineapple juice
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes OR generous pinch of chilli powder
- 1 tbsp shoyu or tamari soya sauce
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
Instructions
1. If you have leftover rice, go to no. 2. If cooking rice from scratch: put the rice in a pan, add enough water to cover and more (about 2cm/1 inch). Bring to the boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes. The rice should be tender but not sloppy. If it starts to dry up, add a little hot water as needed. To cool quickly, place in a colander and run cold water over it. Drain thoroughly then crumble in stock cube/bouillon and mix in well.
2. Meanwhile, toast the cashews and sesame seeds in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, turning over continuously with a spatula. The nuts and seeds should be a light golden colour, not black. Remove from the pan and set aside until needed.
3. Prepare the rest of the salad ingredients and set aside. Make the dressing in a screw top jar and give a good shake to ensure everything is well integrated.
The cooled rice should be placed in a large serving bowl. Add all salad ingredients. Pour on dressing and mix in well. Garnish with the leftover spring onions.
Optional extras / notes
-
15 minutes if using pre-cooked rice; 30 minutes plus cooling time if cooking brown rice from scratch
Keywords
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