Springtime Jasmine Rice Salad.
What’s your favorite salad?
Odd I care about such a thing, no? But I love your guts. I want to know.
My ideal salad – like if I-was-about-to-bite-the-dust salad – includes butter lettuce topped with things like crispy bacon, avocado, gorgonzola, strawberries, mango, fresh herbs and some sort of warm crusted protein, like chicken or shrimp. WANT.
Second place would be a giant Caesar with freshly toasted, warm croutons and anchovies. Oh yes. Do the darn thing.
But let’s get serious: I’m not sure WHY on Earth my last meal would be a salad. But it’s my blog and I get to make the rules.
Whomp whomp.
If it’s just a regular old day, plain and boring and margarita-less, lettuce does not cut it for me. I’m perfectly capable of throwing together a salad that may sound somewhat appealing, but the minute I sit down to eat that mess? Ugh. Sad city. It’s like cracker boxes eat my arms or something. Then they get stuck in the cheese drawer. They may grab some grapes that Ryan Gosling is not hand-feeding me. (Why?) Then they eventually find their way to a previously hidden (but not really hidden at all) chocolate stash, until I’m waaaaaay too full to eat that salad.
Just how it is people. No way around it.
Soooo in order for me to actually EAT salads that I deem worthy of my chew, they have to be one of two things: a. lettuceless or b. a taco salad with copious amounts of cheddar cheese and seemingly half a bag of organic blue corn chips.
Which… sort of puts me and my mouth back at square one.
Oh. Except for the chips. Healthy since they are organic. That’s why I ate that entire organic chocolate bar last night. Full of health!
But these… these sorts of salads are ones I can get behind. Last year I had a… moment… with jasmine rice and seriously can’t.get.enough. When I finally found BROWN! jasmine rice you would have thought that James Taylor set up shop in my bedroom and sang me to sleep every night. I felt as though I hit the jackpot. I mean, jasmine rice is just so… jasminey.
Rice salads, quinoa salads, and every other salad with as few vegetables as possible rise to the top of my list. And! Asparagus has always been something I can handle in moderation (like a few bites every few weeks while in season) but now… I’ve been roasting it’s jewels off like I do with green beans and it might be something I can get behind.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though.
Springtime Jasmine Rice Salad
serves 2
12-15 asparagus spears, woody stems removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup uncooked brown jasmine rice
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 shallot, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pint baby bella mushrooms, quartered
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
salt & pepper
Prepare rice according to directions on package, subbing in 1 cup chicken stock for the water. This will most likely take 30-40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast for 20-22 minutes.
While asparagus is roasting, heat a large skillet oven medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sliced shallot with a pinch of salt. Saute until soft – about 3 minutes. Add in chopped mushrooms, tossing to coat, and let cook for 4-5 minutes until soft and juicy. Stir in garlic and cherries and cook for 30 seconds. Increase heat a bit and add wine, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Toss in rice and asparagus, then serve. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Also delicious served cold!
Oh PS: add bacon.
101 Comments on “Springtime Jasmine Rice Salad.”
Tasty!!! I like it!
Carb-heavy salads are definitely my favourite. I’ve never seen brown jasmine rice but I will definitely keep an eye out for it. This salad sounds so good.
Love it. I just used up the last of my asparagus last night when I roasted a crap ton of vegetables for a side for dinner. Whomp WHomp.
A fresh green salad with some chicken, some croutons, some blue cheese, some sun-dried tomatoes… Or some good old Greek salad (with feta cheese) and generously poured olive oil. :D
But yours looks so filling and season-perfect!
Perfect for summer! I normally hate lettuce in salads, too. Much prefer rice and vegetable-based ones.
Wow that looks tempting. Great idea and lovely photos
I love salads – I must have been a rabbit in my other life. Lettuce salads, grain salad, bean salad, bring it on. This one looks delicious. I would definitely serve this cold with grilled chicken and be a very happy camper!
oh this does look incredible!!!
Giadia’s orzo salad has been my potluck go to for years. i’m kinda obsessed with it. it’s so yummy. i usually don’t use the mint because I don’t keep it handy. feel free to add chicken for mr. how sweet.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/everyday-italian/orzo-salad-recipe/index.html
Yum! What a nice healthy, great looking dish! I love all the variety of foods you make!!
Yummy!
just when i thought asparagus was unphotogenic, you totally proved me wrong. this salad looks fantastic! love all the fresh flavors. perhaps i should be baking less brownies and eating more of these salads?! or just do both? bookmarking this recipe!
Favorite salad of all time the Caramelized Peach Salad with sauteed Salmon at California Pizza kitchen right now. I’d die a happy woman if I could replicate that at home. Soooo good. You’re welcome to work on that for me if you’d like :) From the menu the ingredients are: Field greens, spinach, warm caramelized peaches, dried cranberries, red onions, toasted pecans and Gorgonzola tossed in white balsamic vinaigrette.
I am definitely obsessed with kale salad! No joke. I have it once…maybe twice a day! Watch out! Oh, and I feel you on the whole taco salad thing…ppl stare at me like I’m nuts when I order taco salads at every tex-mex restaurant we go to! I love it topped with cotija cheese, honey mustard tequila dressing (yes, I said it…tequila in the honey mustard at one of my fave restaurants), crispy corn tortilla strips, and mexican-spiced flavorful grilled chicken. Its my regular at this restaurant. Plus, they serve it will this homemade bbq sauce…I know it sounds weird, but it will knock your socks off. Then, of course, I down 2 marg’s with five pounds of chips, salsa, and green sauce! O lord!
Your dream salad sounds, well, dreamy. And this salad is also dreamy.
Seriously love the James Taylor comment…and that salad looks delish!!
Looks awesome!!! I’ve never cooked with jasmine rice before……sounds really interesting!
This sounds fabulous! Love that brown jasmine rice. I’ve never tried it!
Oh yeah babe. This looks good and filling. My favorite is my black barley salad. Yum!
Oooh this looks beautiful! I don’t think I could pick a single salad to eat as my last meal. Call me weird but I adore salads of all sorts, the more veggies the better!! It’d probably involve lots of greens, tons of colour, some crunchy nuts and seeds, and a really nice rich raspberry vinaigrette. Yummmmm!
Gorgeous! Love this rice salad! So yummy.
This looks so good! It’s funny, I was just talking to a client last week about making salads like this. She HATES vegetables and lettuce especially, so I suggested going to more grain and vegetable mixed salads. It’s really a great way to get your veggies in and not feel like you’re eating a salad.
This looks AWESOME! Love mushrooms and asparagus – I’m making this. Beautifully photographed, too.
Sadly? Mixed greens, sliced hard boiled eggs, crispy bacon pieces, croutons, shredded cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing.
I wouldn’t cry if some warm, chopped up fried chicken was thrown on top, either.
However….I can fully get behind a rice salad with loads of mushrooms. Just the thing to trick my brain into not knowing it’s healthy!!
If you can get behind a little edamame and seaweed this salad is amazing…but then again of course it is because Heidi Swanson came up with it (http://www.how2iceacake.com/2011/08/seaweed-and-edamame-salad.html). This one is pretty great too, super easy (http://www.how2iceacake.com/2011/07/bean-salad-with-parsley.html)
I have a feeling you would love this. One of my favorites. And using steel-cut oats in a salad? Genius!!! (You could totally add bacon to this one too…)
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/waldorf-salad-steel-cut-oats-50400000115179/
This is Gorgeous! If I’m going to eat a salad, I don’t want lettuce, either. It’s not worth the effort my jaws put forth to chew it. I’d rather have raw spinach, cause it doesn’t really have a flavor but it will stick with me longer. BUT – I like warm salads way better than cold.
This one looks fantabulous, and I love roasting veggies. In fact my own favorite salad starts that way. If you roast (or GRILL!) some eggplant and bell peppers and zucchini and broccoli with your asparagus, you can douse them all in a greek vinaigrette and crumble up some feta or goat cheese, then you can elbow your family away from the bowl. Um. Yeah.
My favourite salad is actually something I mixed up based on one of your recipes – the avocado lime fruit salad! I liked it sooo much as a fruit salad that I wanted to adapt it for my weekday lunches.
I make the dressing from your recipe, then mix it with baby spinach or baby lettuces, lots of cucumber, crispy wontons or peanuts, goat cheese, chopped up mint, and berries/mango. I call it…mojito salad. I’m not exactly creative.
This rice salad looks so good. Rice is actually my favourite food (I know, I’m the most boring person in the world) so I will definitely be giving this a try!
Ok now i want a recipe and picture of the bite the dust salad and the seizure salad!
This looks fantastic!! Love asparagus!
I adore asparagus and jasmine rice. I’m now on a mission to find brown jasmine. This is amazing!
Grain salads are my all time favorite. It just doesn’t feel like a salad when there’s bites of rice or millet or barley or wheatberries… You need to make asparagus fries, you might be a true convert then ;)
This looks delicious! My favorite salads are Caesar salads…with croutons! Croutons make salads like..a bajillion times better.
My asparagus will be popping up soon! Perfect recipe to welcome them…plus bacon
My two favorite salads are 1) Mama Pea’s chickpea strawberry mango salad – sooo light and fresh and summery and mmm tasty! and 2) GRILLED romaine with grilled salmon. The grilled lettuce is where it’s at! You’d probably make it into a Caesar and add bacon. Can’t say that’s a bad idea ;)
I love this! My mom and I are crazy about lettuceless salads! :-)
This looks amazing! My favorite salad (since I have a paralyzed stomach & can only eat certain raw veggies- no lettuce for me) is pasta salad with yellow & red tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, colby jack cubes and mini pepperoni. Yum!
These are my favorite kinds of salads as well! I usually start with spinach + quinoa, throw whatever roasted fruits/veggies I have in, add some kind of chicken, preferably cooked in pesto, and top it all with copious amounts of goat cheese. so.good.
I’ll have to add this yummy salad to our healthy meal rotation. Love all the flavors and textures in this.
I’ve got a Greek couscous salad that is amazing! I love mixing grains and veggies for a salad – they are perfect for work day lunches.
Oh my goodness, this looks so good! I love asparagus!
See? And I was NOT going to even read this blog because it had “salad” in the title, but I’m glad I did. You are the Queen of the non-salad salad. Love this!! I love roasted asparagus jewels … I think. :)
I love your guts too. And this is a dream on a plate. Seriously.
Love roasted asparagus! This salad sounds delicious, I love everything about it, and never would have put it all together! Totally skipping salad at my last meal though :)
Yeah I’d go chicken caesar I think followed by just a garden salad with some good mixed greens and LOTS of veggies. Or anything with candied walnuts + pears/apples. Okay, I’m stopping myself there because I love salad too much and this could go on forever :)
omg Ryan Gosling can hand feed me grapes any day. Love it.
Yum! I totally agree with you – my favorite salad would be either a ceasar or something loaded with bacon, avocado, and blue cheese (I can’t pick just one!). But your salad looks amazing too – what great way to celebrate springtime!
1) Crispy Proscuitto Salad- Romaine lettucs, hard boil egg, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, blue cheese and proscuitto that’s been cooked until it’s crispy like bacon…
2) Dried cranberries, spinach, candied pecans, then goat cheese that’s been covered in chopped pistachios and pan fried until the cheese is warm but not melty…
3) A good cesar salad with tomatoes added…
If my parents made salads like that I would have ate my vegetables as a kid!
i’m so impressed, you made mushrooms, in your salad? :-) awesome.. love it! i would totally make this.
asparagus makes me want to paarrrrrtayyy. love it.