Black Rice Salad with Steamed Broccoli and Pickled Veg

A Forbidden Rice Recipe

Who’s heard of forbidden rice? I hadn’t until I cooked up some delicious black rice and my partner Mak did research on the nutritional content of it. Black rice is still today referred to as forbidden rice. This stems back to the Ching and Ming dynasties in China.

During these times the Chinese emperors kept black rice for themselves and didn’t allow anyone else to eat it as black rice was seen to promote good health and longevity of life. Eventually ‘common’ people were allowed to eat it too. Woo hoo. I’m a common person feeling like an emperor every time I eat a bowl of forbidden rice.

Black rice is actually deep purple colour and there are a few different varieties. The varieties I can readily get are Indonesian black rice which is a long grain black rice and then my favourite is the short grain one which originates from China.

In Chinese medicine black rice is thought to thin the blood. It has more antioxidants than blueberries. Has a high amount of iron, contains more protein than any other rice. In 100g of cooked black rice there is 8.5 grams of protein.

In addition to its nutritional benefits it tastes delicious, it has a nutty flavour and is a wonderful accompaniment to steamed veg, run through salads, wrapped up in nori rolls and made into a pudding or porridge.

To cook black rice it can take up to fifty minutes however if you soak it overnight or for at least a few hours the cooking time will halve. It is good to soak all grains before cooking. Cook one cup of black rice to two cups of water and ½ tsp salt. Bring the rice and water to the boil then simmer on a low heat for 25 mins (if rice has been soaked) or until all the water has evaporated and the rice is soft.

Today I share with you a salad recipe. It was hard to choose which recipe to share as I now have so many black rice recipes. If you try out this recipe and are an Instagram user could you please share your picture and tag me on the post.

Black Rice Salad with Steamed Broccoli and Pickled Veg

1 cup cooked black rice
1 head broccoli cut into long florets
1 small cucumber diced
¼ cup pickles (see last week’s blog for this)
Macadamia fetta *

Dressing
¼ cup lemon juice
½ tsp maple syrup
½ tsp Dijon mustard
A few pinches slat
A few grinds of pepper
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ cup olive oil

To make the dressing place all the ingredients in a glass jar and shake until all combined.
Steam the broccoli until al-dente.
Place the black rice, cooked broccoli, diced cucumber and pickles in a serving bowl. Drizzle on the dressing and top with the macadamia fetta.

* I am fortunate enough to be able to buy Botanical Cuisine Macadamia Fetta. It is delicious and hard to believe it isn’t made from Dairy. If you can’t get this, there is a wonderful recipe for macadamia fetta here

Foundation Course Interview

There are still places left in the last foundation course for the year. It runs on the 30th November thru to the 2nd December. Claudia completed the foundation course in September and has given me permission to share with you her answers to a few questions I asked her after she had completed the course.

What did you get out of the three days of the foundation course? Is there anything that stands out in particular?
Knife skills, new recipes, how to cook beans properly, baking skills, some great 20 min meals and some easy ways to adapt. The biggest thing I got out of the course was the confidence to adapt recipes.
What did you think of Veet's Facilitating during the foundation module?
I loved Veet’s style of teaching. It was very hands on. We got to practice each part of the meals and come together as a group to put it all together. She gave us the space for creativity and allowed our own style of cooking to come out in many of the meals and our signature dish. We did lots of taste testing along the way, which was also helpful.
Have you taken anything away from the three days that you are already implementing in your everyday life?
Pantry/kitchen organization, reminder of why I need to buy organic foods and new recipes that I love for my family and I.
Is there anything else you would like to further learn?
Food photography, Indian meals, how to bake sourdough, raw treats.
Was there anything that stood out to you that you did not know about but now do since doing the foundation course?
Lots of knife skills and how to cut certain things, the science of baking- I’ve never been able to get anything quite right and knife sharpening.
Was there anything you didn't like about the course?
No, I loved every minute!!