Are you looking for the perfect Rice Salad Dressing? You are in the right cooking blog! The Cold Rice, Tuna, Zucchini with parsley and lemon is addictive, it’s so good, delicate, and delicious, it’s irresistible! You can already tell from the photo, right?
While recording the video recipe, I could smell all the scents in my kitchen, the aroma of freshly chopped parsley, the acidity of the lemon juice, and then the zucchini sizzling in the pan, the tuna completing a dish that takes us right to midsummer. A cold first course to enjoy by the sea, in the mountains, in a meadow, or by the river, in short, a rice salad that reminds us of Sundays. Those family walks or outings with friends, the background chatter of those playing in the water or playing ball in the field. When I think of a cold rice dish, my memory drawers open, revealing so many beautiful memories, each featuring a nice bowl of rice salad.
The Ingredients for rice salad are always different; everyone empties the fridge as they like, putting everything in their own version. This dish will always be one of my favorites, different every time because the dressings for the cold rice salad will never be the same.
The Cold Rice, Zucchini, and Tuna is one of my kitchen’s summer must-haves. It was strange that this recipe wasn’t yet on my blog. I realized this only last week, while buying the ingredients, and thought: Is there the recipe on the blog? A quick check, and the answer was no. So I went home and, considering my work shifts, decided not only to prepare this cold rice salad with zucchini and tuna. Could the video recipe be missing to show you the step by step of the cold rice, tuna, and zucchini recipe? Definitely not!
Here I am with everything ready, the recipe and video, along with the other staples of my summer kitchen, which you can find all below with the respective links. In fact, every blue writing will take you directly to the recipe you chose to read, from the most classic rice salad with mayonnaise to the pasta salad that you must try. Then there’s the complete cold dish with green beans salad with tuna and hard-boiled eggs, and then the delicious potato salad, and finally, with potatoes again, the warm octopus. Aren’t you already salivating? Write down the recipes, save them in your favorites, or share them on your social profiles to not lose them! I wait for you every day here with the Recipe of the Day!!! If you want to become a fan and follower of the blog Le Ricette di Bea in the box below the recipe, you will find all the profiles, from Instagram to Tik Tok, from Facebook to Pinterest there’s something for all tastes and ages!!!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 285.56 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 49.02 (g) of which sugars 0.51 (g)
- Proteins 15.35 (g)
- Fat 3.53 (g) of which saturated 0.49 (g)of which unsaturated 0.31 (g)
- Fibers 1.30 (g)
- Sodium 320.59 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Cold Rice, Tuna, and Zucchini
- 1/2 cup rice for salads
- 1 zucchini (medium-large)
- 3.5 oz canned tuna
- lemon juice (from half a lemon)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste water (for boiling rice and diluting lemon juice)
- to taste parsley (fresh or dried)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
The lemons are from Grandma Sandra, so they are locally sourced, and I don’t even need to drive to get them. More organic and eco-friendly than this, I couldn’t be.
As for the parsley, I recommend using fresh, as it’s obviously more aromatic than dried. The day I recorded the video recipe, I didn’t have any at home; the plant on the balcony is still struggling with the fluctuating temperatures. But I hope to have fresh soon!
For the tuna, I recommend using medium-large chunk tuna in water, so you can crumble it better by hand, and it’s much tastier than the canned version.
There’s no onion or other sauté, as we are preparing a rice salad and don’t want to make this dish too heavy.
Tools for Cold Zucchini and Tuna Rice Salad
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pan
- 1 Pot
- 1 Plate
- 1 Colander
- 1 Small glass
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Paper towels
The list of tools needed for this Cold Zucchini and Tuna Rice recipe is almost longer than the ingredients list for the rice salad!!! If you want, you can also grate some lemon zest if it is untreated and well washed, so you will also need a hand grater.
Steps for Cold Rice, Tuna, and Zucchini Recipe
The recipe as you can imagine and as you might have already seen in the video recipe is very simple. Very few steps, just a few minutes of cooking, only 13, and the cold rice dish is ready.
First thing to do: bring plenty of water to a boil in a pot with a pinch of salt. We will adjust the seasoning of this zucchini and tuna salad later. Extract the juice from half a lemon and pour it into a small glass along with a couple of teaspoons of water.
Now let’s focus on the rest, starting by washing the medium-large zucchini, or two small zucchinis, under the tap water. Pat dry with some kitchen paper and then put it on a wooden cutting board. With a non-serrated knife, cut it into many slices and then into small cubes of the same size.
Take a non-stick pan, pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil inside, and add the zucchini cubes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parsley. Moisten everything with the lemon juice and water and place on the stove over medium-high heat. Let it cook for at least 5 minutes. The zucchini should become golden and crispy in the pan. I never touched the zucchini with a spoon or spatula; I used the pan handle to toss everything. Once cooked, turn off the heat and transfer the ready zucchini into a bowl with high sides. Let them cool.
Once the water reaches a boil, cook the rice for salads. Pay attention to the cooking instructions on the rice package you purchased. Don’t overcook, as it will become mushy, and the final result won’t be the same. After the cooking time, in my case, 13 minutes, drain the rice directly into the sink using a colander with small holes or a sieve. Rinse the rice several times under the running water to cool it completely, then pour it into the bowl where we let the zucchini rest.
Now it’s the tuna’s turn; drain the canned tuna from the jar, place it on a small plate, and crumble it into not too small pieces with your hands. I love it when the tuna remains whole instead of being all shredded in the rice salad. Then pour everything into the bowl with the other two ingredients, adjust salt and pepper if necessary, and add more minced parsley. With a spoon, mix the ingredients of the rice salad and then serve at the table. The aroma is unmistakable, the taste guaranteed, and I devoured it! Try it to believe it!
Let me remind you that I await you every day here in my kitchen with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one! I wish you a good appetite!!!
Storage for Rice Salad with Tuna and Zucchini with Lemon and Parsley
You can store the Cold Rice with Zucchini and Tuna in a refrigerator container with a lid. Closed well, you can keep it for up to two days. Obviously, if you take it with you to the office, park, beach, or any other place where you consume the cold dish, and it undergoes temperature fluctuations, I recommend keeping it in the refrigerator for the day only. Temperature changes aren’t good for the ingredients of the rice salad.
