Citrus Rice Salad With Parmesan

"Found several interesting looking rice salads in the NY Times on July 30, 2008 by Mark Bittman (the minimalist). He says rice salads are among the few salads that don't deteriorate after the dressing is added, so they can be dressed minutes or hours ahead. He recommends that you cook the rice a bit in advance, and dress it before it gets too cold. He also recommends that you cook the rice like a pasta, in abundant salted water (for between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on the rice) and then drain it and dress it when the rice is cool enough to handle. Cooking time is for white rice. Slightly adjusted to suit my dietary preferences (lower fat, but you can increase the olive oil and cheese as you see fit)."
 
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Ready In:
30mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
4-8
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ingredients

  • 1 12 - 2 cups any rice
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or up to 1/4 cup)
  • 3 tablespoons citrus juice (or more to taste, including lemon, lime, orange, tangerine, grapefruit or a combination)
  • 2 tablespoons citrus zest, grated
  • 1 tablespoon sugar or 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 cup citrus fruit (chopped, or whole segments if small)
  • 12 large red onions or 1/2 large mild white onion, minced
  • 12 cup of fresh mint (chopped)
  • 14 - 12 cup parmesan cheese (grated, (or more)
  • almonds (optional) or pecans, chopped (optional)
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directions

  • Cook rice in abandant salted water, as you would pasta, until it's just done; white will take 10-15 minutes, brown 30 minutes or more. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, then put in a large bowl.
  • Combine the olive oil, citrus juice, zest, sugar or honey, salt and pepper in a blender and turn the machine on; a creamy emulsion will form within 30 seconds. Taste and add more citrus juice a teaspoon or two at a time until the balance tastes right to you.
  • Drizzle vinaigrette over rice. Use 2 big forks to combine, fluffing rice and tossing gently to separate grains. Stir in citrus flesh, onion and mint; taste, and adjust the seasoning or moisten with a little more dressing. Serve, sprinkled with parmesan and chopped nuts, at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day, bringing salade back to room temperature before serving.

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Reviews

  1. A very nice citrusy salad! I liked the orange zest combined with the red onions and mint! I put sliced almonds on top and this added to the goodness. Loved all the flavors! Thanks for posting!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>Clockwise from upper left, my dear friends Cranberry, Quincy, Kumquat and Kiwi. All of our cats were born in the wild and adopted by us. Zaar Chefs I have met so far: Elmotoo, justcallmeToni, ~Rita~, Midwest Maven, Bird&amp;Buddha (both of them) and most recently, Ms*Bindy from upstate New York:) Wonderful, sweet, friendly people and great chefs! Most relevant thing to mention here is that I am a vegetarian, and recently became a&nbsp;vegan&nbsp;(almost 100%). To put vegetables and other things not meat or fish on the table I work as an actuary (in my case anyway, a combination of statistician, number-cruncher and/or programmer). For fun I like to travel. Just came back from&nbsp;Namibia, a peaceful democracy in Africa with lots of animals! Got some terrific pictures of lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, rhinocerous, hyenas, all kinds of antelopes, giraffes and zebras. Namibia is the second most sparsely populated country per square mile, just behind Mongolia. Update:&nbsp; We went to Italy this Spring.&nbsp; We had lots of pizza and pasta.&nbsp; The pizza is so much better in Italy, particularly the crust.&nbsp; The Amalfi coast was absolutely beautiful.&nbsp; Spectacular natural scenery (Canada and Alaska are really beautiful, Patagonia in Chile is sublime, Iceland is unique) has been my latest passion as far as travel destinations but I have seen quite a few big cities too (Paris, Berlin, London and Madrid to name a few). On my bulletin board at work I keep a list of every country I've visited (other than the U.S. of course). So far I've made it to five continents: Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and North America of course. I've got only two other continents to conquer:) I don't usually have difficulty finding vegetarian dishes here in the U.S. or overseas, but finding vegan dishes is much harder. I have no kids, just cats, Kumquat, Cranberry, and more recently Quincy and Kiwi. They are purebreds, of the breed alley caticus (okay, American shorthair I guess). Our cats are not vegetarians, though my boyfriend (significant other, long-term partner, whatever) is. I am a friend of all animals both tamed and wild. In addition I am a freethinker and my boyfriend studies philosophy. Either way, we get along pretty well.&nbsp; Also, please allow me to say that my BF and I recently bought a condominium in NYC.:)&nbsp; Pet peeve? Okay, I don't like public scenes, especially parents yelling at their children, lovers' spats, etc. If it must be done please do it in private:D Participation &amp; Awards:</p>
 
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