I’ve never burned a pot of rice. Ever. Until today, that is. I was planning ahead, looking forward to having most of my prep work finished a few hours before the dinner hour rolled around. With this in mind, I put on the rice to boil, and that’s where the story gets a little sidetracked. Well, actually, it was me that got sidetracked. My stove takes FOREVER to heat a pot of water, and since I have not much (read: none) patience I decided to run upstairs and finish an email and then come back downstairs to check on the rice. Right.
I don’t even know how much later it was that the burning smells wafted upstairs to my immediately offended nostrils and jerked me back to the realization that I’d left a pot on the stove. Running and leaping down an entire flight of stairs in what I am sure was record time, I discovered what was left of the rice and quickly removed it from the stove.
All extra time now gone, and the lovely smell of burnt disaster permeating my entire house, I resigned myself to a night that would be spent preparing dinner just like every other night of the week: at dinnertime. I have also made a mental note that in the future my impatience is not allowed to supersede a hot stove. Take that!
I think you’ll like the salad, anyway, but I do recommend starting with rice of the not burned variety!
I followed this recipe exactly as it is written by Jeanelle Mitchell in her book for the love of SALAD, which you can purchase through Amazon or through Anthropologie. I used edamame and flat-leaf parsley, and added a can of rinsed black beans to make the salad heartier and it served as a main dish.
My verdict? It’s a good salad, but I’m not crazy about it. However, if I were to make it again, I would double the dressing and probably increase the ginger and sesame oil because there wasn’t as much flavor as I hoped. It’s simple to put together and I like the blend of flavors; I just want more flavor. What about you?
Oh, and does anyone have any good tips for cleaning my burned stainless steel pot? Cause that’s gonna take a miracle to look like new again.
Asian-Style Brown Rice Salad
Ingredients:
- Brown Rice - 3/4 cup
- Water - 2 cups
- Sea Salt - 1/4 tsp
- Garlic - 1 large clove, minced
- Ginger - 1 tsp, minced
- Fresh Lemon Juice - 2 T
- Soy Sauce - 1 T
- Honey - 1 T
- Toasted Sesame Oil - 1 T
- Red Chili Flakes - pinch
- Edamame or Frozen Thawed Peas - 1 cup, shelled & cooked
- Carrots - 1 cup, finely diced
- Green Onion - 2, finely chopped
- Slivered Almonds - 1/2 cup, toasted
- Fresh Cilantro or Flat-Leaf Parsley - 3 T
Instructions:
Combine rice, water & sea salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for approximately three minutes, then seal with lid and turn off heat. Leave on the burner but do not remove the lid for 30-45 minutes. Fluff with fork and transfer to a large bowl to cool.- For the Dressing: whisk together garlic, ginger, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and chili flakes in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add dressing, edamame, carrots, green onions, almonds, and cilantro to the rice. The salad can be made earlier in the day, then covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.
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