I was browsing the aisles at Bulk Barn when I noticed a barrel full of organic black rice, and I was intrigued.
I have eaten wild rice this colour (I confess I don’t like it that much) but never anything like this. I’m no grain aficionado. We usually stick to whiter varieties of regular rice, including jasmine and basmati, and our go-to rice is usually a stickier variety that I make when we’re having ginger chicken. (A Joy of Cooking recipe, and it’s delish.)
I decided to cook some black rice as part of a #dailylunches dish. And I’m glad I did. Isn’t it pretty?
It’s not exactly black, but it’s close. The rice has a very deep browny purple and gives this dish an unusual hue.
I like the flavour of black rice. Black rice is grainier, denser, and less flooffier than its cousin Uncle Ben, and it’s for these exact reasons I would opt to use it in a salad like this one. It’s mild and a bit nutty, and a bit chewy too, but not unpleasantly so.
Sidebar: this is why I like Bulk Barn! I can buy a cup of something to try it out. No commitment or wastage. Woot!
(Wondering how to cook black rice? It’s easy. Combine 1 3/4 cups of water and one cup of rice in a pot that has a snug-fitting lid. Add a bit of salt and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Let stand, covered, for a few minutes before fluffing and serving.)
The black rice salad recipe pictured above consists of:
- 1 cup cooked black rice
- a small splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
- 3 leaves of kale, washed and chopped
- 1/2 avocado, diced and tossed with lime juice
- a handful of cranberries
- half an apple, chopped
- a smattering of pecan pieces
I prepared the kale while the rice was cooking. I took the oil and vinegar and mixed them together in a bowl and added the chopped kale to that, tossing and squashing it down with my fork. (Remember what I said about kale massage in this recent recipe!) And then I let it sit.
I added the warm rice (not hot) to the kale, and gently tossed in the other ingredients. That’s it!
Here are a few other black rice recipes that look intriguing from around the WWW, in case you’d like to try it out for yourself in a different kind of dish:
- Cumin-Scented Quinoa and Black Rice
- Easy Peanut Kale Rice Bowl
- Thai Black Rice Salad with Wild Salmon
