Brown Rice Salad with Roasted Zucchini

This bright, flavorful, and healthy dish is versatile enough for winter and summer.

I did not grow up in a brown rice eating household. The primary reason is this: my mother brought back certain eating habits from Japan, where she did her research, the biggest one these being that only white rice should be (and was) served. Any brown rice that managed to squeeze through our front door was part of a box mix and while there was no point in picking out the offending grains, it was emphasized that this was Not Good Rice.

However, Mark loves brown rice and subsequently, this supposedly terrible, horrible, no good very bad rice appears a lot on our table. I can’t say this adjustment was made without a little kicking and screaming – it’s difficult to overturn 20 years of rice philosophy overnight. What won me over to brown rice wasn’t its flavor, but its texture and chewiness. It’s a grain that makes you masticate – you can’t just gulp it down and move on to the next bite.

This recipe is inspired by Giada de Laurentiis’ Neapolitan Calamari and Shrimp Salad. In the doldrums of Indiana winter, her salad looked so bright and delicious that I had an instant craving…except I didn’t have any orzo, calamari, or shrimp on hand. So I substituted brown rice for the orzo (short grain white rice is too sticky) and chicken for the seafood and made a fairly healthy, flavor packed salad.

Brown Rice Salad with Roasted Zucchini

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups uncooked brown rice, medium grain
• 2 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 3/4 frozen peas
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup onion, minced
• 1/8-1/4 cup lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. In a rice cooker, add 4 cups water to 2 cups rice and turn cooker on.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, coat zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Arrange on baking sheet and roast for 10-12 minutes, or until tender.
3. In the same bowl, add tomato, onion, and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper, and combine.
4. In a large bowl, add frozen peas, cooked rice, Parmesan cheese, and the rest of the seasoned vegetables and toss to combine.

One final note: This salad also goes well combined with roasted boneless-skinless chicken breasts seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Shrimp would also work and I suspect salmon would also be delicious, but I haven’t tried those combinations yet.