Comments on: Everyday Italian Rice Salad

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:22:33 +0000

I was feeling under the weather tonight and wanted a filling salad that was appropriate for Winter and easy to make. I served it with sauteed kale and onions and my four young girls all loved it. Thanks!

By: Lisa@WhatFeedsMySoul

Lisa@WhatFeedsMySoul — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:28:31 +0000

Having for dinner tonight! Sounds so yummy!

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:49:16 +0000

I made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit. My toddler ate a giant bowl of it! Thanks!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:13:46 +0000

I just made this for dinner and it is DELISH! I figured out the soaking (used about 1T lemon juice). I am so glad I tried this, thank you for a recipe that we will have many times this summer!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:20:37 +0000

Kimi, to clarify what you just wrote in response to Elizabeth, you use a pinch of baking soda or lemon juice as the acid during soaking? I’m new to soaking – I’ve only done a bread recipe, and it called for kefir or buttermilk…and I don’t have Sally’s book (yet!)

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:38:46 +0000

When you soak the rice, do you use the same water to cook it in or do you drain it and add fresh water before cooking?

KH: I’ve done both. If I cook it in the water that I soaked it in (much easier to figure out measurements), I just use either a pinch of baking soda or lemon juice. Vinegar tastes too strong if not rinsed off (to me at least). Sometimes I will not add anything, and just let it soak an extra long time. Hope that helps.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:25:17 +0000

This looks delicious, and I love finding another make-ahead, healthy lunch possibility that is out-of-the-ordinary (or, at least, our ordinary LOL!) Thanks, Kimi. Do you think a cup of frozen corn would work as well as peas? I’m not a huge peas fan….I’ll probably try it with the corn first.

KH: I bet corn would work!

By: KimiHarris

KimiHarris — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:49:28 +0000

D and Debbie,

You both brought up an excellent question regarding rice and soaking. D, I recommend that you soak grains because it reduces phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that can block the absorption of important minerals. You can read a little more about it here. But it is true that rice is low phytic acid, so it won’t be as big of a deal. That’s part of why I love this dish, even if I forgot to soak something I still feel that it’s okay to make. Sally recommends that if you don’t soak it, that you cook it for a long cooking period (something like 2 hours) in chicken broth, I believe. Otherwise, she says to soak it for 7 hours. Since I don’t usually want to cook my rice for such a long period of time, I try to simply soak it before hand (though it doesn’t always happen!).

By: Mac McFatter

Mac McFatter — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:34:33 +0000

I made this last night and have enough left over for tonight. I made it with long grain white rice and added frozen peas to the warm rice after it had cooled just a little. Thawed and cooked the peas just right! I will try this dish with a number of different dressings. I used balsamic basil vinegar as a base last night. Mac in Alabama

KH: It’s true that you can use a variety of dressings with rice salads. It’s fun to experiment, isn’t it!

By: Mindy

Mindy — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:22:40 +0000

Last night, on impulse, I made this with left over cooked quinoa. I just warmed the quinoa up a bit and otherwise prepared it as directed. It was great! I’m sure it would be fantastic with rice, but I had been looking for a way to use up all the quinoa I had, and this really fit the bill. My husband loved it, too.

Thanks, Kimi!

KH: I bet it would be delicious with quinoa! Thanks for letting us know!