Today is ‘forage in the pantry’s’ 1st Birthday! It been a delicious year of cooking and blogging. Looking back on my first entry, ’The Best…Peanut Butter Cookies’, I feel compelled to make something peanut infused! However, with all this fantastic hot weather we’ve been enjoying and with today being yet another scorcher, the cleansing flavours of the Caribbean seem appropriate. Cold rice salads are totally underrated as rice is normally associated with curries and hot meals. This delicious one comes courtesy of Ottolenghi- the salad king. I always eat brown wild rice or Camargue as its healthier and full of flavour and adds a welcome component to a meal. This salad definitely needs the Camargue rice as it adds colour and an amazing nutty flavour. Even cooking it infuses the kitchen with its tasty aroma. Don’t use white rice here as it just won’t work….on any level.
While this is devoured, its time to crack on with a proper birthday cake…..
Serves 4-5 easily (Adapted from Ottolenghi’s Plenty)
- 150g Camargue rice
- 100g wild brown rice
- Bunch of basil, shredded
- Bunch of mint leaves, shredded
- Bunch of coriander, shredded
- 1 red pepper, sliced thinly
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 fresh red chilli, chopped (seeds and all if you like it hot)
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Juice ½ lime
- 1 mango, cubed into 2cm dice
- 60g roasted salted peanuts
- 50g desiccated coconut
- Salt
- 1-2 tbsp oil
- Boil the rice for about 20 minutes until cooked. Drain and spread out onto a large plate to cool.
- Mix all the other ingredients in a large bowl apart from the lemon and lime juice and the oil.
- When the rice is cool, add to the other ingredients and gently toss together until combined. Squeeze over the lemon and lime juice and add enough oil to moisten the salad to your liking- I only added about 1 tbsp but add more if you like.
Note: This would be lovely with my Asian Salmon recipe!
