Black rice salad
I’ve recently made a few bowls of salad for a dinner with my girlfriends and everybody seemed to fall in love with this super easy and tasty black rice salad. My mother in law makes a similar black rice salad with peppers but as I didn’t have any at home but a ton of carrots the recipe changed. So this turned into a super beautiful dish, the black rice works so well with the vibrant colour of the carrots – it looks and tastes great!
I’ve layered over some hallumi but if you’re vegan than this black rice salad is just lovely without as well.
As for the dressing I am using a simple Asian- inspired marinade which can be used on many dishes, from fish to chicken to salads. I often mix up a whole jam jar of it and just use it as and when I need thoughout the week. Sp the dressing for this black rice salad is made out of sesame oil, tamari sauce, minced garlic, grated ginger and a drop of honey or maple syrup to balance out the flavours.
I am a huge fan of tamari, it tastes almost the same as soy but it is your gluten free version and when you check the labels it is much much lower in sugars than your original soy. Tamari, just like soy, is also made from soybeans so if you are intolerant- stay away.
You shouldn’t need any salt for this dish as the hallumi and tamari are salty enough.
Black rice salad recipe
Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a main
200g uncooked black rice
4 carrots, coarsley grated
1 handful of cashew nuts
1.5 packets of hallumi (sliced)
Black sesame seeds (only if you have any and if easy)
For the dressing:
1 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cm piece of grated ginger
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
3 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions:
Start by boiling your black rice. Studies suggest that a fairly high amount of arsenic is found in rice and the best way to get rid of as much of this as possible is to boil the rice in lots and lots of water and drain the excess off. So don’t worry about measuring out your water and rice ratio – use loads of water and then drain off the excess. Black rice usually takes betweeen 35-40 minutes to cook but check your packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and leave to cool slightly.
In the meantime, peel and grate your carrots into a big serving dish.
Start making your dressing: Either grate your ginger and mince the garlic and mix all the other ingredients with it, or you could pop all of your ingredients into your blender (I use my nutri bullet) and whizz up. Set aside.
Cut the hallumi into 1/2 centimeter thick slices and pop under the grill so it slightly browns off.
Once the rice has cooled a little mix it with your grated carrots and pour over half of the dressing. Mix and taste. If you want the flavours to be more intense use more of the dressing, otherwise pop a lid on your jar and keep in the frisge for a few days to use on something else.
Sprinkle over cashew nuts, layer hallumi over the top and top off with black sesame seeds – if you have any!
I hope you will enjoy this black rice salad as much as we did! We certainly shared a few good laughs over eating it! Love a dinner with my girls! Dani xx
Tags: asian dressing, black rice, black rice salad, carrot salad, salad, tamari sauce
