Rice salad is the ultimate summer dish because, first of all, it should be eaten cold but also for the richness of its ingredients, flavors, and aromas; moreover, it can be prepared well in advance and served for lunch or dinner. It’s the ideal dish to take to the beach to enjoy under an umbrella, for a trip, or to take to work. The one I propose today is a rice salad rich in vegetables, tasty, appetizing, and very colorful that can be customized to taste. In this version, completely gluten and lactose-free, I added tuna, but it can be omitted or replaced with another ingredient depending on personal tastes.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Spring, Summer
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups Rice for salad
- 2 Small bell peppers
- 9 oz Boiled green beans
- 6 oz Tuna in oil (drained)
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- 20 Pitted black olives
- 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar or balsamic
- to taste Chopped red onion
Steps
Wash and cut the bell peppers into small pieces, removing seeds and white filaments.
Cook the rice al dente in salted water, drain it very well and place it in a very large bowl.
Boil the green beans in slightly salted water, after removing the ends and washing them.
As soon as they become tender, turn off the heat, drain them and add them to the rice.
In the same boiling cooking water of the green beans, boil the bell pepper slices for only 3 minutes, then drain them and add them to the green beans and rice and let them cool completely.
When they are well chilled, season with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, pitted black olives (green ones are also fine), a small piece of very finely chopped onion, and the perfectly drained tuna.
Adjust the salt, mix, cover and let it season for at least a couple of hours before enjoying it.
The extra idea. We can serve our rice salad inside bell peppers, previously boiled in plenty of salted water for just 3 minutes, so they remain firm and crunchy. After draining them, let them cool upside down and then season them inside with a veil of mayonnaise before filling them with rice.
Bon appetit
