Well, spring is finally arrived and asparagus is plentiful in the Farmer’s Market. This Asian Rice Salad is just one of many ways that I can incorporate a seasonal vegetable into our diet. It is lovely in the spring with asparagus and just as lovely when sugar snap peas and green beans are in season later in the year.
Asian Rice Salad mixes seasonal vegetables with an orange-soy dressing for a moist and delicious taste.
I have also included my Mom’s (Grammy) recipe for Dried Orange Rind.
Asian Rice Salad
Print recipe| Serves | 6 - 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups rice (white or brown)
- 1 Pint box green beans or sugar snap peas or asparagus
- 1 red or yellow or orange sweet pepper (diced)
- finely chopped chives
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup toasted unsalted sunflower seeds (or pepitos or pine nuts)
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Optional
- 1 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
Orange Soy Dressing
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp low sodium soya sauce
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 Tsp salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp freshly grated orange peel (or 1 tsp dried orange rind (see recipe))
Directions
| Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Boil the rice for 10 minutes (15 minutes for brown rice), stirring well. Drain rice into a strainer (stainless steel is best). Place rice over pot of boiling water (make sure strainer is not in the water). Cover and steam for at least 20 minutes Fluff the rice. | |
|
Blanch the green beans, snap peas or asparagus (cut on the diagonal into ½ - 1 inch pieces.(about 2 minutes in boiling water).  | |
|
Whisk all the ingredients of the Orange-Soy Dressing together. While the rice is still warm, toss with a 1/4 cup of the dressing. Add the vegetables, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, parsley and stir until well mixed.  | |
| Chill covered in the fridge. Add more dressing when you remove it from the fridge (rice salad absorbs dressing as it sits in the refrigerator). Season with freshly ground pepper. | |
| There is enough dressing, that some should be left over. Retain this to use to moisten the leftover salad | |
Grammy’s Dried Orange Rind
Ingredients
- navel oranges
Directions
| Peel navel seedless orange(s) with potato peeler. Put on wax paper over a microwave bacon pan. Put in microwave at medium for 1 minute. Leave in oven and whenever you think of it put oven on the same way until dry enough to roll with a rolling pin between two pieces of wax paper. Store in air tight jar in fridge. Use in place of orange peel in recipes. It is very good added to bread stuffing used to stuff pork tenderloin or lamb. | |