Last summer I ate a lot of different variations of rice salad. I was cooking a lot from Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. In the salad section he has a table full of different twists you can take with rice salads. I think I made almost everyone listed.
I made a big pot of brown basmati rice one weekend and every night as I packed my lunch for the next day I would dish out my rice and make a single portion rice salad.
Rice Salad Primavera comes from the July/August 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times. The addition of tofu to the salad makes it a complete meal. I love the colors: red tomatoes, orange bell pepper, yellow squash, and green onions.
The salad is dressed in a simple vinaigrette made of hearty spicy brown mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. It’s light, refreshing and perfect for a summer lunch or picnic or for Vegan Tuesday.
Rice Salad Primavera
Adapted from July/August 2009 Vegetarian Times
- 1 cup brown basmati rice
- 1 8 0unce package of Italian garlic baked tofu, cubed
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 green onions, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 1 small cucumber, peeled, quartered, and sliced (1/2 cup)
- 1 small yellow squash, diced (1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons hearty spicy brown mustard
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and fresh ground pepper
- Bring rice and 2 cups water to boil in covered saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.
- Stir tofu, tomatoes, green onions, bell pepper, cucumber, and squash into rice.
- Whisk together vinegar and mustard in small bowl. Whisk in oil until mixture forms smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir vinaigrette into rice. Chill well before serving.
Serves 8.
We’ve had a bounty of locally-grown blueberries, so for something sweet I made the Banana-Blueberry Sorbet from The Perfect Scoop. Even though there is no dairy, it’s creamy from the bananas. It’s light and refreshing without the heaviness of ice cream. Perfect on a summer night. I also think it would be great frozen into popsicles. You can find the recipe HERE.
(Of course, when I mentioned to the co-workers the great tasting blueberries they wondered when something baked would show up. Can’t take this to work. 😛 )
Pink Stripes 