The rice salad with Greek yogurt and vegetables is a very light, vegetarian, gluten-free, and flavorful dish, thanks to the presence of spices and Greek yogurt, which gives the dish a tangy note that you won’t miss the classic mayonnaise. It is a different kind of rice salad, lighter, healthier, also due to the vegetables that retain their flavor and beneficial properties. It’s a dish that can be personalized to your liking, by adding cheese flakes, pickles, diced cold cuts, etc… The rice salad with Greek yogurt and vegetables is an excellent first course to take to the beach, on a trip, or to work because it doesn’t weigh you down. I suggest preparing it in advance so that the rice absorbs the flavors perfectly.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 4/5 servings
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Autumn
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Rice for salads
- 6 oz Greek yogurt (also lactose-free)
- 1 Cucumber
- 3 salad tomatoes
- to taste Pitted olives
- 3 1/2 oz Pre-cooked peas
- to taste Red onion
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Table salt
- to taste Basil
Preparation
Cook the rice according to your habits (you can also use the whole grain type).
Drain it al dente and let it cool in a large bowl.
Wash the salad tomatoes and dice them.
Pit the olives.
In the meantime, put the yogurt (that replaces the mayonnaise), a handful of basil leaves, oil (1 tablespoon should be enough), salt in a blender and blend to obtain a smooth and fluid aromatic cream; put it in the fridge to rest. You can also add chives to the Greek yogurt, to give a more pronounced aromatic note.
Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds from the middle part of the cucumber and chop or roughly mince it, along with a few more fresh basil leaves that will give an even more fragrant and fresh note to our rice salad.
As for the pre-cooked peas, I used peas in sauce left over from another preparation; or we can add them directly to the rice, after being well-drained from the preservation liquid and rinsed under running water.
Add all the vegetables to the cold rice, the olives, a bit of red onion (like the Tropea variety), adjust with a bit more extra virgin oil and salt, according to our taste, add the aromatic Greek yogurt cream and mix until all the ingredients are combined. Put in the fridge, well covered, to let the flavors meld until serving time.
The yogurt amounts are based on our tastes. You can modify them as you like.
