If I told you I served a delicious brown rice salad yesterday, you might give me a rather puzzled look. Perhaps even a look of disbelief. A ‘delicious’ brown rice salad? How can anything with brown rice be delicious? And you know what? I probably wouldn’t blame you.
To be honest, I am also not the biggest fan of brown rice. It can be heavy and taste bland. Too much of a health food and not something I would serve when cooking a special meal. But brown rice can be perfectly palatable if prepared and seasoned well. Like in the salad I am about to share with you.
This brown rice salad also has lentils (canned, for extra weekday ease) and is great as a side dish (I served it with Merguez sausages) but it can also be a wonderful vegetarian meal, either served alone or perhaps with some slices of grilled halloumi and a squeeze of lemon. Hmmm, now that I think about it, that combination sounds pretty darn good! The vibrant flavor comes from ras-el-hanout spices, sweet and fleshy sundried tomatoes and little cubes of salty feta. For extra pepperiness, I threw in a handful of rocket lettuce. I think the salad lends itself to a lot of variations. Kidney beans would work well instead of lentils or kalamata olives instead of sundried tomatoes.
This salad may just cure you of any reservations you may have toward brown rice! Enjoy!
Brown Rice & Lentils Salad
Serves 4
- 160g dried brown rice
- 2 tsps ras-el-hanout spices
- 1 can (400g) of brown lentils, drained and rinsed
- 100g sundried tomatoes (in oil), chopped
- 100g feta, crumbled
- chopped parsley
- a handful or two of rocket lettuce
Cook the rice according to package instructions. Once cooked, remove from the heat and immediately stir in the ras-el-hanout spices. Allow to steam for a few minutes before adding in the rest of the ingredients. Serve as a complete vegetarian meal or as a side dish.