Fresh, filling, vegetarian, and Mexican!
A tasty packed lunch recipe on its own, or can be eaten as a side dish.
This vegetarian Mexican rice salad recipe is from the cookbook Wahaca – Mexican Food at Home by Thomasina Miers. I like this one because it’s really a versatile dish; the rice component means that it’s filling enough to be enjoyed on its own, but the fresh herbs and various vegetables also make it a great accompaniment to other things. I often combine it with some meat (spicy lamb or cajun-style pork fillet) or fish (Thai tuna fishcakes) and salad leaves (lamb’s lettuce, watercress, or spinach work well) for a full packed lunch dish.
Click here for the full rice salad recipe.
Green Rice Salad
Vegetarian, gluten-free, Mexican salad from the cookbook 'Wahaca – Mexican Food at Home' by Thomasina Miers. A tasty lunch recipe on its own, or can be eaten as a side dish alongside my Tender Spiced Lamb and some salad leaves. *From The Hungry Hungry Husband & Wahaca*
Servings 6 servings
Calories 170kcal
Ingredients
- 120 g basmati rice
- 4 small shallots or 1 red or white onion
- 2 cloves garlic depending on your preference
- 1 large courgette or 2 small
- 150 g tomatoes I like small, vine toms best
- 3 spring onions
- 1 chilli red or green fine
- 1 lime (juice of)
- 100 g feta
- 60 ml olive oil (for the dressing)
- 2 tablespoons oil (for frying) we use groundnut oil but you can use anything really
- pinch caster sugar
- large handful fresh coriander
- large handful fresh mint
- small handful fresh tarragon
- salt & pepper for seasoning
Instructions
Cook rice:
- Add 1 mug of rice & 2 mugs of cold water to a pan (it doesn’t matter what size mug as long as the ratio is 1:2, rice:water)
- Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and let it simmer
- Stir every now & then to make sure it’s not sticking on the bottom but it will take 10–15 mins to cook — it’s done when all the water has absorbed into the rice
- When it’s done, just remove the pan from the heat and set aside for now
Prepare and soften vegetables:
- Finely chop 4 shallots/1 onion
- Finely chop or mince 2/3 garlic cloves
- Dice 1 courgette
- Add 1–2 tbsp of any kind of oil to a large or deep-sided frying pan on a medium heat (use less oil if you have a good, non-stick pan, or more if not)
- Once it’s hot, add the shallots/onion, garlic, courgette
- You can add a large handful of frozen sweetcorn at this stage, too; we just never have any in the freezer so I don’t include it
- Cook them gently so that they take on a little colour and soften nicely (use a lid in a have one as this keep the moisture in) – this should take around 10 minutes
- When it’s all done, transfer everything to a large bowl
While the rice and courgette mix are cooking, prepare the other ingredients:
- Quarter or halve 100–150g small tomatoes or dice 4 plum tomatoes
- Finely slice 3 spring onions
- Finely chop 1 chilli (red or green is fine) — de-seed it first if you don’t like things spicy
- Chop 100–150g feta (I just used up what we had left in the fridge this time, which turned out not to be very much!)
- Finely chop a large handful of each coriander & mint and a small handful of tarragon
Combine everything:
- Add the rice into the courgettey, shalloty/oniony, garlicky bowl and mix well
- Then add all the other prepared ingredients and stir it all up to combine
Make dressing:
- Whisk together 60ml olive oil; juice 1 lime; pinch sugar; s&p
- Add half of the dressing to the salad, mix well, and taste
- Add the other half of the dressing if you want (I do), along with extra salt & pepper if needed
- And that’s it! Simply cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge until you need i
In the morning:
- Eat on its own — just decant as much as you need to a small tub and take to work with you
- Or, eat with something meaty and some green salad (try my Tender Spiced Lamb)
Notes
*hot option* just pop the salad in the microwave — it should only take 1 or 2 minutes to heat up, depending on the strength of the machine
