Summer means cold salads

Posted by Margalit

It's time for picnics, BBQ's, and dinners out on the back patio. Which means it's time for a bunch of interesting cold salads. Cold salads make or break a meal in the summer. Often when it's too hot to cook, cold salads are the meal. With that in mind, I'm going to be doing a new series of cold salads for you to try. Maybe you can have them with your buffalo chicken strips!

This first salad was a tweaked version of a Delia Smith recipe. I didn't like her choice of herbs, and so I made it my own.

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Cold Rice Salad with Spinach and Herbs

INGREDIENTS

12oz white or brown rice
24 fl oz boiling water or vegetable stock - double the volume of rice.
2-2.5 Tbls oil
1 tsp salt
2-3 handfuls of spinach leaves
3-4 spring onions, including the green tops
1-2 heaped tsp EACH of fresh sage, mint and dill
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
cherry tomatos, quartered

For the dressing:
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 Tbls cider vinegar
5 Tbls olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil in a pan, stir in the rice, then pour in the boiling water or stock.
Add the salt, stir once and allow it to come back to the boil.
Cover, then reduce the heat to give a bare simmer.
Cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is just tender (15-20 minutes).
Throw all the green ingredients (spinach leaves, green onions and herbs) into the food processor and pulse a few times until they're finely chopped. (Don't overprocess or you'll wind up with a puree.)
Mix the green ingedients, tomatoes, and the lemon zest (the grated rind) gently into the rice.
Cover the pan with a folded cloth and leave aside for 10 minutes.
Make the dressing by crushing the salt, peppercorns and garlic together with a pestle and mortar.
Alternatively, just mince the garlic beforehand and then use regular salt and ground pepper).
Pour into a screw-top jar.
Add the mustard, vinegar and olive oil, and shake the whole thing until well-mixed.
Put the rice into a serving bowl, pour the dressing all over and mix gently.