Italian Style Rice Salad

Healthy, tasty Italian styled Rice Salad. Vegetarian friendly as it is or you can add cooked pancetta, tuna or mozzarella in the last step to make it more of a main meal? Great served up as side dish or served up as a sharing BBQ salad.

📝 Ingredients

• 200 grams Long Grain Rice (Uncooked weight (makes 600 grams (3 cups) once cooked))
• 310 mls Cold water
• 5 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/2 Lemon (juice)
• 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning/ Dried Herbs (mix of Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Parsley, Sage, Red Pepper flakes)
• 2 tsp Garlic Puree (or 4 cloves minced)
• 8 Sundried Tomatoes (Finely chopped)
• 1 Orange Pepper (Diced)
• 1/2 Cucumber (Diced)
• 1 Red Onion (Diced)
• 100 gram Cherry or Plum Tomatoes (Quartered)
• 100 g Sweetcorn (Tin)
• 60 g Green or/and Black Olives (pitted)
• 4 tbsp Pine Nuts
• 3 tbsp Fresh Basil (chopped)
• 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley (chopped)
• 130 gram Cooked Diced Pancetta
• 1 tin Tuna (drained)
• 200 g Mozzarella (Balls or chopped )

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Rice: Cook 200 grams Long Grain Rice in 310 mls Cold water beforehand. Giving it time for it to cool off. Follow the instructions in the notes below to make sure you cook the rice correctly. If adding 130 gram Cooked Diced Pancetta, cook that off in the sundried tomato oil and allow time to cool.
2. 2Dressing: Make the dressing by mixing all the Italian Dressing ingredients 5 tbsp Olive oil, ½ Lemon , 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning/ Dried Herbs, 2 tsp Garlic Puree.
3. 3Mix: Put cooked rice in a mixing bowl and add all the chopped Italian Salad ingredients. We used 8 Sundried Tomatoes, 1 Orange Pepper, ½ Cucumber, 1 Red Onion , 100 gram Cherry or Plum Tomatoes, 100 g Sweetcorn, 60 g Green or/and Black Olives, 4 tbsp Pine Nuts, 3 tbsp Fresh Basil, and 2 tbsp Fresh ParsleyPour the dressing over and mix all in together.
4. 4Serve up in a large bowl or large plate with more fresh herbs.