Home-made Brown Rice Salad

Home-made Brown Rice Salad by Mky. Made for a delicious, wholesome and colourful lunch today, with sweet accents from the chopped apples being a highlight of the dish. This brown rice salad has plenty of veggies (a hallmark of Mky's usual style), wholegrains and Omega-3 oils. Mky likes to cook by colours; the more colours you have in your daily intake of food, the better for your health!  This dish wins in that category hands down - purple from the brown rice, reds/yellows/oranges and green from the vegetables and white/pink from the apple and salmon.
 

Another point to note.. Brown rice was my least favoured carbohydrate, something I'd never choose to eat on my own. So even though we're talking abt brown rice here, this dish is so good, I'm asking for seconds! Many meals ago, I gave Mky some advice on how to make the healthy but not very tasty brown rice palatable - cook it with other things! ;) We've come a long way baby!

What's inside it: brown rice (75%), basmati rice (25%), steamed salmon fillet (flaked and deboned painstakingly by Mky), corn kernels, yellow and red bell peppers, chopped kale, chopped snow peas, apples with baby tomatoes on the side.

This dish was initially to be made with cous cous, but since we were unable to find said grain in the nearby supermarket, Mky modified it to work sensationally with brown rice instead. =)

Mky's Agarationcipe* for Brown Rice Salad

(can be enjoyed hot or cold; *to "agar-agar" or "agak-agak" means to roughly estimate in local slang vernacular)

Quantity feeds 1 Dky and 2 Mkys for lunch.

You will need:

Raw rice, washed (75% brown and 25% basmati or whichever proportion you prefer)

1 large yellow bell pepper

1 large red bell pepper

1 large fillet of raw salmon

Sweetcorn kernels

Chopped raw snow peas

Chopped kale or any other dark green leafy vegetable that is more leafy than stemmy

Chopped apple (skin on), soaked in a bit of salty or lemony water to prevent oxidation

Mky's Energy-saving Method:

->  Place washed rice into a large pot and top with sufficient water to cook the rice (or perhaps with just a teeny bit less than you will usually use).  Add a few generous shakes of sweet paprika powder and a pinch of salt.

->  Top the raw rice/water with quartered chunks of yellow and red bell pepper.  Top the bell pepper stack with the raw fillet of salmon.

->  Bung a lid onto the pot and allow the whole mix to steam away. 

->  Once the salmon has become perfectly pink and juicy tender, carefully lift it out of the pot (be careful not to overcook it, Mky removes it from the heat once it goes opaque, the residual heat will cook it nicely).  At the same time, remove the chunks of bell pepper, which will also be nicely steamed and soft. 

->  What remains in the pot is the half-cooked rice, steeped in the yummy Omega-3 oils that have seeped from the salmon, and the sweet juices from the bell peppers, which will then be absorbed by the rice grains as they plump up.  Nothing wasted!  Give the rice grains a good stir to homogenise everything, then return the pot with lid to the heat source.

->  While the rice continues to bubble away happily, allow the bell peppers to cool before dicing them up to easy to eat pieces.

->  Break the tender salmon up into nice, toothsome chunks, deboning it as you go along.  Reserve any liquid to mix back into the rice later.  As for the salmon skin, either discard, or feed to any nearby fish-skin lover (Mky is one such).

->  2-3 mins before the rice is done (when it is just slightly too damp), dump in the chopped snow peas, cooked sweetcorn kernels and chopped green leafy vegetables.  Allow the vegetables to cook briefly before removing from heat.

->  Allow pot contents to rest for a few minutes before fluffing up the rice with a spatula.  Mix the salmon chunks and chopped bell peppers into the pot of rice and vegetables, integrating them well but taking care to not mash the rice with too much force.  Finally mix in the cubed apples.

->  Flavour to taste with a lashing of sesame oil, lemon salt, light low-sodium soy and freshly ground black pepper.  Don't overdo it with the seasoning, allow the sweet, delicate flavours of the fresh ingredients shine through instead for a healthier, more satisfying meal!

->  Enjoy hot or cold, with a serving of juicy baby tomatoes on the side!

**Other possible variations: Endless!  Raw nuts such as flaked almonds, crushed walnuts and cashews, vegetables such as shredded cabbage, diced carrots, kidney beans, garbanzo and cooked navy beans, sauteed onions and mushrooms, cubed feta cheese, shredded chicken breast or tuna fish... go wild!  Even add some diced chili for a bit of Asian spicy kick!

Already thinking of making another evolution for next week, with skinless chicken breasts rubbed in curry spices, grilled and cubed, tossed with brown rice and diced cucumbers, tomatoes and thinly sliced celery, sauteed red onions and shredded cabbages, served with a side bowl of plain yogurt, topped with flaked almonds.

How's that sound?  Thumbs up?