Rice Salad with Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette
A zesty, bright, and fresh rice salad, this easy dish features chickpeas, pomegranate, parsley, and a lemon ginger vinaigrette. Use leftover rice to have the salad ready in minutes, and make it up to 24 hours in advance.
Servings 6 people
Ingredients
Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette
- 50 ml olive oil
- Zest of a lemon
- Juice of a lemon 3 to 4 tablespoons
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 small red onion very finely diced
Rice Salad
- 600 grams cooked rice room temperature
- 250 grams chickpeas, drained and rinsed cooked or canned, if using canned, a standard 430g (15 oz.) can
- 1 medium pomegranate seeds
- 1 bunch parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- If you haven't cooked the rice, do that first and set it aside to cool when ready.
- Start by making the vinaigrette. Add the oil, lemon zest and juice, honey, mustard, ginger, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Whisk until combined and creamy in appearance. Add the onion and stir to combine. Set aside.50 ml olive oil, Zest of a lemon, Juice of a lemon, 2 teaspoons honey, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper, 1 small red onion
- Prep the remaining salad ingredients. Seed the pomegranate - I don't have any tricks for this, and simply do it by hand - and chop the parsley. Add the rice, chickpeas, pomegranate seeds, and parsley to the bowl with the vinaigrette.600 grams cooked rice, 250 grams chickpeas, drained and rinsed, 1 medium pomegranate, 1 bunch parsley
- Mix very well, being sure to get all of the vinaigrette from the bottom of the bowl and mixed into the salad. Taste and season if needed. Serve at room temperature.
Notes
For the recipe timing, I've allowed for a longer prep time because we all know pomegranates take ages to prepare. I've also included a cooking time in case you are cooking the rice now. That time will vary depending on the type of rice used, but white rice needs 15 minutes at most.
If cooking the rice specifically for the salad, you'll need about 1 cup uncooked rice to get 3 cups cooked.
Storage: keep rice salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days but note that it's best served within 24 hours. Bring it out half an hour before serving to bring it back to room temperature. Don't serve cold.