Another recipe from the quick, cheap, and (I hope) tasty series. This is a main course, suitable for vegans and for those who want to have a detox period: it is a rice salad with dried fruits, having different variations. For preparation, it will take a bit more than the hummus (5-10 minutes), but you should be able to do it in under 30 minutes, with around 15 minutes of cooking time.
Ingredients (2-3 portions= 400-500 g)
- 200 g whole grain rice (white, black, basmati, wild, however you prefer but note that the cooking time may vary)
- 100 g mix of dried fruits (dates, apricots*, plums, raisins)
- 50-60 g almonds or nuts (preferably raw)
- 1 green onion either fresh or frozen, or chives
- 10 g parsley, either fresh or frozen
- The juice from ½ lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 spoons of olive oil
*Quality dried apricots have more of a brownish color; the orange-colored ones contain sulfites that help maintain their appearance
Preparation
- Put the rice and some water into a tall pan and bring to a boil (1 measure of rice to 2,5-3 measures of water; I usually use a glass to measure); adding a lot of salt is not necessary because the rice already contains enough.
- Dice the dried fruits to the same size as the raisins
- In a separate pan (no oil!) slightly roast the almonds/nuts while being careful not to burn them, and dice them.
- Dice the onion and parsley
- Check that rice is not sticking to the pan (this shouldn’t happen as long as there is still some water) and after a while taste it to decide if it is done. If it is not cooked enough and there isn’t water left in the pan add another half a measure. If consistency is good, turn off the heat.
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and keep some onion/parsley to decorate your plate in the end. Add lemon juice to taste.
The result is in the white saucer with green bordures. Can be served both hot and cold.
Enjoy!
Variations
- You can also add kidney, azuki, or borlotti beans (200-250 g). While the rice is cooking, put the beans in a pan (without the liquid) and cook for 5-10 minutes and add to the mix. I like to add beans because I get a good mix of protein. You can also add cherry tomatoes. The result is in the small white bowl)
- We can also add vegetables or fruits such as 50g of blueberries, kale, and grated carrots while reducing the quantity of dried fruit to half (the medium glass bowl)
- You can also reduce the quantity of nuts and add some black sesame seeds.
Advice
- In the pictures below I have used red and black rice; the salad will look better if you use whole-grain basmati rice or a wild rice mix because they put into evidence the beans and dried fruits. Alo takes less time to cook.
- For situations in which we don’t have fresh herbs (parsley, onion, basil, dill) it is useful to buy beforehand frozen produce that is ready to use either in the dish itself or for plating.
