Versatile, light, and healthy, rice salads work well with a wide variety of ingredients. This recipe includes two varieties of rice and the bright flavors of lemon and fresh herbs. The key to a good rice salad is properly cooking the rice so the grains are airy and separate from each other, not clumped together or gummy. To dress rice, note that warm rice more readily absorbs dressings than cold rice. Popular in Italian culture, rice is cooked like pasta, with rice salads often a first course. In America, the first noted cultivation of rice was 1609 in Virginia. South Carolina and Georgia colonies also profited from rice cultivation. Rice cultivation in California began during the Gold Rush, primarily to feed Chinese laborers, and the state is now second to Arkansas in American rice production.
Recipe Servings: 16
+ 10 hours resting
Ingredients
- 1 cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1–2 tsp grated lemon zest
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 cups cooked long grain rice
- 2 cup cooked wild rice
- 2 cups diced seeded cucumbers
- ⅔ cup thinly sliced green onions
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- ¼ cup minced fresh basil or 1 tbsp dried basil
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ cup chopped pecans, toasted
Directions
- Make dressing by combining olive oil, vinegar, garlic, lemon zest, sugar, mustard and salt by whisking in small bowl or shaking together in lidded jar.
- Combine long grain and wild rice with dressing in large bowl. Toss well.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Gently mix cucumbers, green onions, parsley, basil and pepper with rice mixture. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Stir in pecans and serve.
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