I tried rice salad for the first time when I came to France. I don’t think I realised such a thing existed, nor would I have considered it fit for a complete meal. But now . . . add a little cheese platter and a piece of fruit, and it’s a perfect meal for a summer day.
It’s also perfect as a shared dish for a barbecue.
I cooked two cups of rice, which gives about double that amount when it’s cooked. If you need a refresher course on how to make rice, I have a tutorial here.
Then I took a large bowl and started with a heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard. Don’t I always start with a heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard? It’s my second favourite ingredient, next to crème fraiche.
To that I added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and four tablespoons of olive oil. I kind of let it spill over, rather than measure it exactly.
When that was done, I added a family size tin of tuna. It was 400 grams with the water. I broke the tuna into pieces and mixed it with the sauce.
Then I added a can of corn, 3 diced tomatoes and a cup of olives chopped into pieces.
While I was waiting for the rice to finish cooking, I sautéed two small shallots in another tablespoon of olive oil. That takes a bit of the pungency away, while still adding excellent flavour to the dish.
When the rice was done, I added it while still hot. I find that it brings out the flavour and softens the tomatoes without cooking them.
Mix it all together.
And then I added the shallots and another tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, plus a half teaspoon of salt. And I mixed it all thoroughly.
And that’s it! Easy peazy nice and breezy. Time for a barbecue! 🙂
Speaking of which, do you know where the word barbecue comes from? It’s French for barbe au queue, which means from the beard to the tail. In other words, when you’re roasting a pig, the spike goes from one end to the other.
Sorry for the graphic description.
Ahem.
Um. Now back to the rice.
- 2 cups rice before it's cooked
- 1 heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard
- 2 heaping tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- 5 heaping tablespoons olive oil (one used to cook the shallots)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup olives chopped
- 3 tomatoes dices
- 1 can corn
- 1 large can of tuna
- 2 small shallots
- Cook the rice
- Mix the vinaigrette, saving 1T olive oil for shallots
- Mash the tuna
- Add the tomatoes, olives and corn
- Add the cooked rice, the shallots and salt
- Stir and serve.
- It tastes best still warm or room temperature. Do not put in the refrigerator.
I’ve never thought to mix all sorts of yumminess into my rice before! We just eat a bunch of things WITH rice, instead of making into a salad. Which is totally clever. This is a great way to get my husband to eat white rice, which he hates, because he says it’s tasteless. 🙂
Alison recently posted…About Confidence
Oh yes, I bet he would like it. Or rice cooked with with olive oil, garlic, basil, bouillon cubes and (opt to add afterwards) ground beef.
Rice salad is a big thing where I come from 🙂 – but I prefer pasta salad (with arugula, cherry tomatoes and parmesan – no mayo!).
This looks delicious, Jennie – I may have to try it 😉
I have never been a big fan of pasta salad but maybe I just haven’t tried the right GF one. That recipe does sound pretty good though.
Take out the olives and I’m in! And I love dijon, especially with my tuna! Yum… although I had not heard of rice salad until now. Rice “dressing” is very popular here… (mixed with pieces of cooked meat and seasonings).
Elaine A. recently posted…What I Hear
Pickles instead of olives? I do feel like you need some strong tasting salty thing to make the rice less bland.
I often make the same thing with leftover couscous! Yummie!
Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes recently posted…Rerun : How to prepare for a trip to the zoo with two small children
I love couscous, but it has gluten so I can’t eat it. 🙁
This looks amazing. I am not a big fan of olives, but I can make my own version 🙂 Merci!
Merci! 🙂
And yes, the olives are not essential. I’ve also seen pickles if you don’t mind those.
This looks delicious and actually easy enough for me to make.
We’re having a BBQ(poor piggy!) this weekend and I wanted to serve at least one dish suitable for vegetarians as one of our guests eats only fish, no meat or chicken.
My concern is whether or not the tuna flavor is strong in the midst of all the other ingredients – my family doesn’t enjoy tuna although I LOVE it.
Then again, I’d be preparing this for our guests, not my picky kids or husband.
Hmmmm…Also, YUM.
julie gardner recently posted…Goldilocks and the House Fire
Hi Julie (waving),
I don’t think the tuna is all that strong, and if you’re making it just for your family, you can use diced ham instead of tuna. But for the veggies that won’t work. 😉
Yum! I’m often looking for something else to do with tuna, and this is perfect! My family is divided on rice. Two of us could eat bowlfuls while the other two could take it or leave it. This may just appeal to us all. Thanks for sharing!
Andrea recently posted…Yes, Chef