Siouxsie Sioux for Dazed and Confused (1999) via Cats with Famous People

 

Earlier this week I was lucky enough to spend three days hanging out with some of my favourite people at an awesome little bach in the sunshine and slow pace of the Queen Charlotte Sounds. It was so rejuvenating; a stunning part of the country, such brilliant company. I can’t wait for the next trip!

This here salad is something I threw together as part of a lazy dinner on our last night there. I served it with a big pile of herb-seasoned roasted potatoes and kumara chunks. It was such a success that when we got home on Thursday, one of the first things I did was make another batch to store in the fridge and nibble on for the rest of the week.

Yesterday I tried it as a wrap filling, which worked great: I wrapped up a few heaped spoonfuls of rice with a few pieces of faux bacon, hummus and little bit of chutney. It was an amazing quickfire plant-based lunch. In fact, I am having the same again today. Mmm hmm.

One of the raddest things about this recipe is that it is so food allergy friendly, being free from gluten, dairy, soy, nuts and legumes. And vegan to boot.
Not only that, it tastes a little like summer.

Brown rice salad might sound boring, but I promise you this is anything but! 🙂

 

Balsamic Brown Rice Salad

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 medium carrot, grated
1/2 red capsicum, diced
1 spring onion, green parts only, chopped
handful of Italian parsley*, roughly chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt & fresh black pepper, to taste

 

What to do:

Cook the rice according to packet instructions (or your favourite method). Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then add to a large bowl.

Add a carrot, capsicum, spring onions and parsley.

In a small bowl, add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix thoroughly until very well combined.

Add dressing to rice mixture and stir through until evenly distributed.

Viola! So easy!

Serves 2-4.

 

* also good contenders: basil, coriander, mint