Black Rice Salad with Mango and Peanuts

Recipe from Bon Appétit magazine

                   Black Rice Salad with Mango and Peanuts

This month's (June 2012) Bon Appétit magazine has six salads made with grains. I want to make them all! I won't be putting this issue on the shelf anytime soon.

I was happy to find the rice that was called for in this recipe at my higher-end grocery store. I thought I was going to have to order it on-line from amazon - I swear amazon has everything under sun. Yes, they even have the Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice called for in the recipe.

Photo courtesy of lotusfoods.com

I LOVE mango! That is what drew me to this recipe along with the beautiful photo showing the bright colors of the mango, oranges, and cilantro against the black rice.



Photo courtesy of bonappetit.com

For the dressing, the recipe asks for one tablespoon fish sauce (optional) which I did use since I have a huge bottle that I just bought for the cooking group Wok Wednesdays that I recently joined. If you do not have fish sauce I personally would not buy a bottle for one tablespoon. The dressing will be great (I love citrus dressings) without it. If you are like how I used to be and had to make a recipe exactly as written and you do buy a bottle of fish sauce (it is inexpensive) you may want to join the cooking group Wok Wednesdays where we are cooking through Grace Young's book Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge to use up that bottle of fish sauce. I also would omit the peanuts; with each bite that had a peanut, I felt the flavor of this salad dropped down a notch, though the hubby liked the addition of the peanuts. Other than the nuts I loved this salad. When I make this again I will add more mango and orange for I can never get enough fruit.

Success meter (1-3): 3

Black Rice Salad with Mango and Peanuts

Serves 6-8

2 oranges

¼ cup (or more) fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc man; optional)

2 cups black rice (preferably Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice)

Kosher salt

2 just ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into ½-inch dice

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 cup finely chopped red onion (about ½ large onion)

½ cup unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

6 scallions, thinly sliced

2 jalapeños, seeded, minced

Remove peel and white pith from oranges. Working over a medium bowl to catch juices and using a small sharp knife, cut between membranes to release orange segments into bowl. Squeeze membranes over bowl to release any juices. Strain juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; reserve orange segments.

Add ¼ cup lime juice, oil, and fish sauce (if using) to bowl with orange juice; whisk to blend. Set dressing aside.

Bring rice and 2 ¾ cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Season lightly with salt. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered, for 15 minutes. Spread out rice on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with dressing, and season lightly with salt; let cool.

Place mangoes and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add rice and toss gently to combine. Season lightly with salt and more lime juice, if desired.

Bon Appétit/June 2012