Crispy rice and greens salad

Serves 2-3 as a main course

Ideally, you would have leftover rice to make this dish with, to save yourself the step of cooking it for the salad. The double cooking creates fantastic texture in the finished salad, and is absolutely worth the extra step.

From 'the modern cook' column in Guardian Cook, 23 July 2016

vegetarian, gluten free

Ingredients

100g brown rice, cooked and drained

300g greens (the original recipe says spring greens; I used a summer cabbage)

zest and juice of 1 lemon

salt & pepper

3 spring onions, chopped

1 tbsp coconut oil

6-8 medjool dates

100g feta cheese

For the dressing:

zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp sumac

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp runny honey

Directions

  1. Shred the greens and put into a large bowl with the lemon zest and juice and a pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage and scrunch the leaves so they soften up.
  2. Add the spring onions to the greens.
  3. Heat a large frying pan and fry the rice for a minute or two to get rid of any moisture. Tip the rice onto a plate.
  4. Heat the coconut oil in the frying pan, and then fry the rice again until it becomes brown and crispy. Drain it on kitchen towel.
  5. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients and mixing well.
  6. Remove the stones from the dates and chop them roughly. Add them to the greens.
  7. Chop the feta and add to the greens.
  8. Finally, add the rice and dressing to the greens and stir well.
  9. Enjoy!

This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)

Crispy rice and greens salad in bowl