15 Dec Best Ever Christmas Rice Salad

This rice salad is perfect to serve with barbecue prawns, chicken or lamb, and is a great accompaniment to Christmas ham, turkey and seafood.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Serves: 8 as side dish

Ingredients
2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
3 cups water
1 lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
800g heirloom tomatoes, sliced
150g cherry bocconcini, torn in half
1 pomegranate, seeds removed, juice reserved (see tip)
½ cup small basil leaves

Dressing
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
½ tsp caster sugar

Method

Put rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until small craters appear in surface of the rice. Remove from heat and stand covered for 10 minutes.

Rinse then drain well. Stir in lemon rind and juice, and season. Spoon rice onto a large platter or serving board. Top with tomatoes, bocconcini and pomegranate seeds.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar, adding reserved pomegranate juice and salt and pepper. Shake well. Just before serving, pour over the salad and scatter over basil leaves.

Tip: To remove seeds from pomegranate, roll the fruit on bench to loosen the seeds. Score around the middle and tear it into two halves. Hold each half over a bowl, seeds facing down and tap the skin with a wooden spoon, squeezing a little to release the seeds.

Recipe by SunRice