Roasted Summer Veggie & Rice Salad
By Cindy Graham
Are you overwhelmed with your summer harvest and looking for delicious ways to use all those lovely veggies?
Here’s a refreshing salad I made for a trip to the lake, as it keeps well without being kept real cold.
It’s full of both raw and roasted veggies, but quite filling with the rice and roasted beets. Tomatoes and beets provide sweetness, vinegar for the sour contrast, and balanced with roasted seeds for the protein and crunch. Fresh basil and parsley make it pop with flavor.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 3/4 cup pure water
3 small yellow squash, sliced ½ inch thick
1 ½ cups sugar snap, snow peas or green peas
1 small red onion, sliced thin
3 beets, halved then cut into 1/3 inch slices
¼ cup avocado, grape seed or olive oil, divided for roasting veggies
½ cup thinly sliced celery
½ cup thinly sliced carrot
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
⅔ cup chopped fresh basil
2 cups halved cherry or sun gold tomatoes
¼ cup apple cider vinegar, or to taste
¼ cup olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 cup raw sunflower or pumpkin seeds, toasted in a toaster oven or cast iron pan till browned, popping and fragrant
Steps:
- Cook the rice: bring the water to a boil then stir in the rice. Cover and cook 50 minutes over medium low heat, or till all the water is absorbed. Stir in the apple cider vinegar when done but while it is still warm.
- Toss the beets with 2 Tbsp oil and roast in a toaster oven or large oven for 30 minutes or till tender.
- Toss the squash and onion with 2 Tbsp oil and roast in an oven for 20 minutes or till tender.
- Combine all ingredients, saving the seeds for topping each serving.
- Chill and serve. Keeps for about 4 days refrigerated.