Red Rice Salad w/ Mint and Shallot Vinaigrette – A favorite whole grain
Our red rice recipe is a great alternative to brown rice. It’s easy to make and loaded with flavor.
Red Rice Salad Recipe
We’ve been up to our elbows lately with some new projects and late at the end of the day, nothing makes us happier than a big bowl of comfort food and a cocktail. Or two. Comfort food, regardless of how many devilish calories lurk in all the starch, always manages to calm our nerves and satisfy our appetites.
A bowl of red rice is certainly one of our favorite comfort foods and this recipe is updated from our archives, with a few new additions. A chewy and nutty grain variety, red rice is not only satisfying to eat, it’s loved by many for being exceptionally healthy.
What Is Red Rice?
Have you ever had red rice before? If not, you need to get yourself a bag, especially if you’re a fan of brown or any type of wild rice. It’s one of our favorites, so full of flavor, chewy bite and nutritionally packed with vitamins. This whole grain is always a win-win on our table.
Red rice is hailed in Chinese medicine as having medicinal qualities to help cure diabetes and high cholesterol. We love eating it often because of it’s flavor, texture, beauty and versatility. If you’re searching for different alternatives to brown or black rice, this red variety is perfectly balanced with flavor & chewy bite. The color is a pleaser too with the subtle red tones still retained after cooking.
Red rice, along with various varieties of black rice, are available in most Southeast Asian grocers, specialty food markets and even online. The most inexpensive prices are at the Asian grocers, ranging from $4-$7 for a three pound bag. We’ve seen it priced at specialty Non-Asian markets for $7 on a 10 oz. package, ouch!
Once you get your hands on some of these red beauties, try this fresh and simple red rice and mint salad. It can be eaten either warm or as a cold salad and the addition of cucumbers and mint is refreshing.
When we developed this red rice salad recipe, we had the vision of tabouli in mind, something with bright flavors of parsley and mint and cucumber crunch. We replaced the bulgar wheat with the red rice and added a flavorful and wonderfully fragrant shallot vinaigrette made in a pan. This dish is eaten cold and with all the fresh herbs and cucumbers, it’s like a rice salad.
combine shallot vinaigrette, red rice, chopped herbs & cucumbers
We’re fortunate enough to always have a garden full of fresh mint almost year round. But many of you cold region eaters don’t have the luxury of fresh mint, so there are other herbal options to the salad. Cilantro is another wonderful alternatives to mint, as well as adding extra cucumbers to the red rice if you want to omit the herbs altogether. This salad is wonderful cold and warm, so there are many options for serving.
Normally we’ve eaten it cold at picnics and parties, but for the times that we have had it warm, the rice is a wonderful comfort food on a cold day.
Red Rice & Mint w/ Soy Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw red rice , cooked to package instructions
- 1 1/2 cups diced cucumbers (about 1 large or 2 medium cucumbers)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped mint leaves , or even more to your specific taste
Shallot Dressing:
- 3-4 large shallots , minced (or 1/2 regular onion)
- 3 cloves garlic , minced or crushed
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- zest of 1 medium lemon
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- salt , to taste
- fresh cracked black pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Cook the 1 cup of raw red rice according to package instructions. Allow to cool.
- In saucepan over medium heat add the vegetable oil and cook shallots (or onion) and garlic until a light golden brown or until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and add soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lemon zest and juice, salt, and black pepper. Stir until all ingredients are mixed together. Put aside to marinade further while you prepare vegetables and herbs.
- For room temperature or chilled rice dish: After rice has completely cooled, toss in cucumbers, chopped herbs and shallot dressing. Eat immediately or chill in refrigerator. Before eating, toss everything in bowl again before serving.
- For a warm red rice dish: toss cucumbers and herbs with warm rice. Heat up dressing in sauce pan until warm and toss with rice. Serve immediately.
This looks lovely! I can’t wait to try it. Looks like an excellent choice for bringing to a party.
Amazing photos as well!
Your photos are recipes continue to blow me away. As I’ve just told my other half, your’s is a blog to really aspire to.
Thank you, thank you for sharing this great recipe. I tried it this weekend with some Char Shu pork and it was fantastic! This salad is now part of my “staple” list.
What a lovely salad…I adore this rice and this dressing 🙂
Wow, this salad looks Amazing! I have never tried red rice…thank you for this recipe…love the shallot dressing!
I LOVE red rice! But I usually make it in a pilaf form and eat it hot with Thai or Indian curries. I love the idea of turning it into a salad – the mint and cucumbers added make it sound so refreshing! Beautiful post 🙂
I’ve cooked very little with red rice, partly because the Asian store I frequent have a vast supply but the cooking instructions are in Chinese. (I unfortunately only speak English and understand a few indelicate words in Taiwanese.) When I’ve tried to “guess” the cook time, I end up with burnt rice. Any general guidelines for cook time?
This looks really delicious. I’ve never had red rice. Looks like I’ll be heading out to an Asian market this weekend!
Oh guys please adopt me. I shall do all your dishes! Looks great – I haven’t seen red rice but I’ll be looking out now. Pi
What a lovely salad! We actually eat mostly brown and red rice at home and, living in the Philippines, it is easy to get local varieties. I haven’t tried it in a rice salad like this though…soon!
Very new to me. As my husband is recovering from a heart attack and we both need to lower cholesterol, this is worth looking for. San Diego has a ton of Asian markets, so off I go!
I’ve never eaten red rice, let alone even heard or seen it before! So thanks for introducing me to a new food! Love rice in general!
I love red rice. Since rice is a staple in most of my meals, I usually cook up a pot of red rice mixed with white rice and brown rice to maximize intakes of different vitamins and minerals. This salad idea is a great one!
we’ve never eaten red rice but we’re big fans of both wild and brown rice; looks like we’ll be hunting for the good stuff now!
This recipe sounds wonderful. Sounds like a lot of fun textures in there. I love stronger flavored foods – so the red rice sounds like a must try. I would want gobs of this vinaigrette around for pouring over everything.
What a great spring recipe! Definitely a must try. Is the fiber content similar to brown rice?