When warm weather arrives, I start thinking about cool salads and side dishes. And I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and recipes to tempt our palates. While on vacation earlier this year, my wife and I stopped at the Hana Fresh Market and picked up the makings for a picnic lunch at nearby Wai‘anapanapa State Park.
One of the things we got was a brown rice salad. It really tasted good to both of us, but I kept thinking “I could make that better”. It needed a little more ‘oomph’ in my opinion. So when we got home I set out to see if I could come up with a version that would better suit our tastes.
This salad features long grain brown rice as the main ingredient, along with chopped vegetables and an Asian themed dressing. Most of the ingredients are pantry staples here and in many kitchens. I usually serve this salad as a side dish, but if you add some beans for protein you also have a cool vegetarian main dish. And other vegetables could easily be substituted for the carrots, cucumbers and radishes. If you don’t like parsley, then mint, cilantro or basil would work well instead. Do like I did and make it to suit your own taste buds!
It sounds delicious. I really like simple dishes like that. And I would so put beans in it because it would be lunch. I eat Mexican/Caribbean inspired rice and bean dishes all the time, but very rarely Asian ones.
I had a rice salad last night for the first time in ages and ages – I’d forgotten how much I enjoy them. Yours looks good – I will give it a try.
This rice salad sounds delicious. I just may make it for dinner tonight. I may have to substitute a few things since we don’t have any cucumbers or radishes at the moment.
Celery and onions are nice. And this summer I think zucchini would be good in it too. Anything with a crunch factor!