I know rice salad sounds like a strange thing. But quinoa salad is a thing. Pasta salad is a thing. So I am declaring rice salad a thing. If you’re still not on board with me, think of a stir fry that involves no frying.
The original inspiration for this salad was one of my favorite restaurant orders – a Thai Chicken wrap from Good Earth. That rice-veggies-chicken-peanut sauce combination is one of my favorite things to eat. While this salad is not exactly the same thing (the main difference being there is no chicken), it is carrying me through my craving while my household is still choosing to avoid restaurants.
Another great thing I have been enjoying about this salad is that you can easily make a big bowl of it and then have leftovers for a few days. When I do this, I only put the peanut sauce on what I am eating that day to help the vegetables stay crisp while they are in the fridge.
A final note is that, as is generally true about salads, a lot of this recipe is based on your personal preference. The amount of nuts, veggies, and peanut sauce are all to your taste, so adjust accordingly. Also, I roast the broccoli because I think roasted broccoli is the closest vegetables can get to candy, but you may choose to roast all the vegetables you put in the salad, or you may choose to not roast any of them. The directions for how to roast the vegetables will be below the recipe.
Peanut Rice Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli
- 1/3 of a red bell pepper
- 3 oz matchstick carrots
- Handful of cashews
- Handful of peanuts
- Peanut Sauce (I use a Thai peanut sauce that can be found in the “international foods” section of the grocery store.)
Directions:
- Prepare the rice. If you have not cooked rice before, you put equal parts rice and water into a pan. Over medium heat, cook the rice until you can no longer see excess water, stirring occasionally. I usually put the lid on the pan for the first several minutes and then as the rice gets close to being done, I keep the lid off so I can keep a better eye on the rice.
- While the rice is cooking, prepare the vegetables: cut the broccoli into florets and cut the red pepper into small pieces. If you want to roast any of your vegetables, do so now.
- In a large bowl, mix together the rice, vegetables, cashews and peanuts.
- Add peanut sauce to taste. Enjoy!
How to roast vegetables
- Preheat oven to 400* F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
- In a bowl, mix together your vegetables with some olive oil and a pinch of salt. There should be enough olive oil to coat the vegetables without there being much excess.
- Depending on how many vegetables you have, cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
Tea and Cupcakes 