Minty Brown Rice Salad

Minty Brown Rice Salad

I make salads with rice and other grains pretty often. It started years ago with leftover rice from Chinese takeout. It was hot and I wanted a salad. I don’t remember everything I put in that salad, but I knew I liked the rice in it. For this rice salad I started with brown rice. I had browned the rice in a little oil, before cooking, to give it even more flavor. I also added some roasted Brussels sprouts, minced celery, green onions and a light dressing. What I think really made this recipe work,  was the addition of fresh mint.

Minty Brown Rice Salad

3 c. cooked cold rice, I prefer brown rice but use what you like

8-12 oz. Brussels sprouts, cut in half and cooked*

1/2 c. minced celery

2 green onions, sliced

3 T. chopped fresh mint leaves

2 T. chopped lovage leaves- use celery leaves, if you don’t have lovage

1/4 c. oil- I used grape seed oil

1/4 c. white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

hot pepper sauce to taste

In medium bowl combine rice with veggies and herbs. Drizzle the oil over the rice mixture, toss to combine. Then drizzle the vinegar over the rice mix. Mix will and add seasonings to taste. Chill until ready to serve. Serves 4-6.

* Trim off the bottoms, cut the sprouts in half and rinse. You can cook the Brussels sprouts any number of ways- steam, boil, roast. I just heated oil in a large pan and sauteed the sprouts until they were a little golden. I added some salt and a little water. Put the lid on the pan and let them finish off another couple of minutes, over low heat, until tender.