Rice Tomato Salad

More than just a green salad, this is a rice tomato salad you won't feel hungry after eating! By @DIYfoodguy

Ready, set, quick. That’s what it’s like to make this rice tomato salad. No tricks needed, no science needed. So what does that leave us to talk about? Why salads in general, of course! Let’s just dive right in.

Quality Produce = Quality Salad

More than just a green salad, this is a rice tomato salad you won't feel hungry after eating! By @DIYfoodguy

When you order a salad from our budget chain restaurant of choice, you get a budget product. Budget produce does not a great salad make. America’s disgust towards salad is well documented and it isn’t hard to see why. Tomatoes that are both out of season and not very good to begin with, iceberg lettuce that’s browning at the edges and mushrooms that are decaying from the inside out. There are exceptions to every rule, but in general, unless you’re eating at a place that’s a little more upscale, you probably aren’t getting quality ingredients in your salad, and that is (in part) what has led to this country’s general distaste of the ancient green dish.

Part of the problem has nothing to do with the chain restaurants and everything to do with the fact that, as noted by Alton Brown and others, much of the produce we buy and use is the result of breeding programs intent not on making fruits and vegetables tastier, but hardier. Example: grapes. Grapes, while some of my favorite fruits, have been bred over the years to have thicker skin and less juice over the years, just like most of their produce brethren.

Luckily, you, unlike chain restaurants, can directly control not only the quality of produce you buy, but also the vendor from which you choose to purchase. So how do you choose your produce? The Kitchn has an excellent guide for both fruits and vegetables, but I’ll keep it short and say, buy what’s in season and shop at quality markets or farmers markets for the best produce possible.

Salad Can be More than Green

More than just a green salad, this is a rice tomato salad you won't feel hungry after eating! By @DIYfoodguy

This is a big deal: Salads are more than just mixed greens! In fact, throughout history, and even down to the current day, genuine and authentic salads vary in their content, some including mayo, meat, cheese, eggs and lots more! If you still are living off of the notion that salad means iceberg lettuce then you need to open up your view! Why this very salad has spinach, tomatoes, red onions and rice! And why not? Salad has historically been more of a mode of serving ingredients than a strict list for what is and is not allowed on the plate.

In fact, the rice here serves to give you energy and improve the taste, binding each ingredient together in a pleasing way. In my opinion, especially in a world where even Buzzfeed publishes articles on the 8 soul-crushing stages of eating a salad for lunch, the best salad is the one that you’ll eat, especially if it makes you full. Incidentally, more quality salad ingredients = more nutrition. There’s nothing to be afraid of.

So on that note, go enjoy this salad and make lots of others! And if anyone says that salads are just mixed greens, point them this way! I’ll sort them out.

Rice Tomato Salad
 
Prep time
Total time
 
More than just a green salad, this is a rice tomato salad you won't feel hungry after eating!
Author:
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • 6 ounces (170 grams) cherry tomatoes
  • 2 ounces parmesan cheese
  • 3 cups cooked basmati rice (you may substitute with any other white rice, if needed)
  • 6 cups salad greens (I strongly recommend spinach), cut into ribbons, roughly chopped, or left whole
  • ½ - 1 diced red onion (use as little as you want or up to 1 whole onion)
  • 2 cloves garlic, grated or diced
  • 1 recipe honey mustard vinaigrette (normally, I would link this right here, but due to technical difficulties, you can find it just below this recipe)
Instructions
  1. Cook rice by bringing 6 cups of water to a boil, adding the rice and 2 tsp salt, covering, and letting sit on low heat for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from heat and serve.
  2. Make vinaigrette and halve the cherry tomatoes. Dice onion and grate or dice garlic. Prep salad greens if desired.
  3. Toss all ingredients together, add vinaigrette as necessary
  4. Enjoy!

You can find the Honey Mustard Vinaigrette here.

More than just a green salad, this is a rice tomato salad you won't feel hungry after eating!More than just a green salad, this is a rice tomato salad you won't feel hungry after eating! By @DIYfoodguy

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Comments

  1. Monica Gaffin says

    For those health conscious like myself and given the high glycemic index of white rice, one might substitute brown rice or barley for a change…

    • says

      So, the glycemic index (GI) of food is slightly complex. Not all varieties of white rice have the same GI. I use (and recommend in this recipe) a long grain variety called basmati rice, which, though pricier than some of its counterparts, has a drastically lower GI. As per the American Diabetes Association, basmati rice is recognized as a medium GI food, right alongside brown rice. Basmati rice has a GI of 55 to 58, whereas average white rice gets a up to a 96 – 98 depending on what resource you look at. Some resources rank basmati as low as 52, and sometimes lower if it is brown basmati. Long story short, always double check the variety of rice you’re buying, as there are even some brown rice varieties that have troublingly high GIs. Hope this is helpful and I hope it clears your concern!

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