Cold Rice Salad (Italian Style)
Transport yourself straight to Italy with this easy cold rice salad recipe! It’s loaded with wholesome ingredients: a delightful medley of crisp vegetables, flaky tuna, flavorful herbs, and tender whole grains to get you through the day.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups long-grain brown rice (or white rice )
- 1 yellow bell pepper (diced)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (diced)
- 5 oz canned tuna (drained (either in extra virgin olive oil or in water) )
- ½ small red onion (chopped)
- ½ cup sweetcorn
- 1 cup canned peas (drained)
- 5 sundried tomatoes (chopped)
- ½ cup black olives (sliced )
- 2 tablespoons capers (in brine)
- ½ cup fresh parsley (chopped )
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin )
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon sea salt
- The juice of 1 lemon
Directions
- 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the rice, and cook it according to the package instructions (usually between 10-30 minutes, depending on the variety you choose). Check for seasoning and make sure it’s cooked “al dente.” It still needs a bit of bite to it. Drain and set aside to cool.
- 2
While the rice is cooking, prepare your vegetables. Dice the yellow bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, and red onion. Chop the sundried tomatoes, black olives, and fresh parsley.
- 3
Drain the canned tuna, sweetcorn, peas, and capers.
- 4
Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, sea salt, and lemon juice until well combined.
- 5
In a large salad bowl, combine the cooled rice, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, tuna, red onion, sweetcorn, peas, sundried tomatoes, black olives, capers, and chopped parsley.
- 6
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until everything is well mixed and coated in the dressing. Check for seasoning, and adjust to your taste.
- 7
You can serve the salad immediately or cover it and let it refrigerate for a couple of hours. This will allow the flavors to meld together.