Mediterranean Rice Salad (2024)

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• Easy - This cold rice salad is so easy to put together. It takes a little bit of time to chop everything up, but that can be done whilst the rice is cooking and then you just mix everything together.
• Adaptable - Feel free to swap out ingredients to suit your own tastes and use up what you have. Any salad vegetables go and we have lots of suggestions below.
• Healthy - Just look at all the colours going on here. This is a vibrant and nutritious rice salad and a great way to get some extra vegetables in your diet.

• Rice - We have used brown rice for extra fibre and nuttiness, however other rice works well too. We like to use wild rice as it still has that nuttiness and adds some extra colour. You can just use long grain rice though. Remember, use one cup of rice to one and a quarter cups of water. Bring to the boil then reduce to the lowest heat. Cook with a lid on for 10 minutes and then turn heat off and allow to stand, still covered, for 10 minutes. Brown rice will take longer.
• Vegetables - The great thing about this rice salad is that it is so adaptable. Feel free to add you favourite vegetables, or whatever you have that needs using up. Other salad vegetables that go well in this rice salad recipe are courgettes, carrot, radish, beetroot, spring onions, peas, green beans, asparagus, kale or Roasted Broccoli.
• Dressing - We made a simple lemon and honey vinaigrette. However, you can add your favourite salad dressing to this. Personally we wouldn't go for something creamy like ranch, as it will be too overpowering. Try to keep it nice and light.
• Cheese - We love the creamy addition of feta. However, you could leave that out and then grill some halloumi and serve that on top. The added saltiness is delicious.
• Protein - We added some butter beans for protein, but you could use chickpeas or lentils instead. If you wanted to add some meat (not that it is missing it), then chopped cooked bacon, or leftover shredded chicken work well. You could also add tuna or salmon for a fishy addition.
• Toppings - We added some pine nuts for crunch, but you could also add some crushed pecans or walnuts or flaked almonds. Sunflower seeds are a good addition too.

Healthy swap

To make this rice salad a little lighter, make cauliflower or broccoli rice and do half and half with the brown rice. This will make it lower in carbs and add an extra vegetable.

Extra tips

• To make a quicker version of this rice salad, you could make microwave rice and then mix it together with all the salad ingredients.
• For a creamy addition, add some chopped avocado.
• Use the best quality extra virgin olive oil, as it makes up a big part of the dressing and flavour.
• Cook the rice so it is a little al dente. You still want it to have some bite to it.
• Cool the rice straight away, so it doesn't continue cooking and get mushy. Don't rinse it under cold water, as that will lose a lot of flavour. Spread it on a large baking tray to allow it to cool.

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