italian rice salad

Salads with rice are often overlooked, I think. This may be due to the temperature dilemma – either serve a rice salad very cold, in which case it must be made in advance, or serve it warm. The latter option means that the complimentary ingredients must be well thought out to avoid wilting or the odd consistency of mismatched temperatures on the tongue. I’m not particularly keen on cold rice salads at home, though some of the takeaway rice salads in, say, Marks and Spencer are decent.

I do, however, really enjoy warm rice salads, and have created what I think is a great summer version – replete with flavour. “This is scrummy,” murmured my husband, happily forking his way through the bowl on Thursday evening.

If nothing else, follow this tip: with rice salads, the rice must be braised. Otherwise, it can become gloopy, and for a salad, the individual grains of rice must be separate.

This salad is very summery and has the lovely aroma of pizza.

italian rice salad (serves 2 – either one very large and one modest portion, or two medium-sized portions)

200 g long grain brown rice
250 g baby plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
50 g spring onions
1 ball (125 g) of reduced fat mozzarella
1 tbsp and 1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano (dried is fine, though fresh would be lovely)
60-100 g wild rocket

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large saute pan. Once the oil is hot, add the rice and garlic and stir so that all the grains are coated. Allow this to sizzle over med-high heat for a few minutes. Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes and put a roasting tin with white wine vinegar, oregano and a tsp of olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Add the hot stock to the rice pan - a little at first but then pour it all in. It should boil furiously for a minute. Then reduce heat to med-low and cover. By the time the stock boils off, the rice should be done. Check about 20 minutes in - if the rice isn't done or close to being done, but the liquid is nearly gone, add a bit more.

Meanwhile, chop the spring onions and shred the mozzarella. Split them into equal piles to mix through the rice. Prepare large bowls by putting about 50 g of wild rocket at the bottom of each bowl. The rice will go on top once it has cooked.

Then top with the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and spring onions and mix through the rice slightly. The dish should smell amazing.

Calories: for a small serving, 415; for a medium serving, 600; for a large serving, 775.

Dishes like these are perfect for a group - some may want more rice, some less, but the flavours in the tomatoes and garlic stay strong no matter what the portion size. My husband had the large portion but the same amount of tomatoes as I had in my small portion.