I have had a rather unhappy relationship with rice salads. It goes back to the first teenage parties in the evening, where we used to meet at a friend's house and "everyone brings something". Maybe because at the time, there were no means of communication other than the home phone but getting together was quite complicated (not like now when you just need to create a group chat on WhatsApp and communicate with 15 people at the same time!)
So, this afternoon, I embarked on an epic cooking expedition: Prawn, grated ginger, and black rice salad with sliced red pepper and avocado. I started by attempting to gingerly (see what I did there?) grate my ginger. Next came the prawns, which had the audacity to slip out of my hands. They really thought they were getting away -plot twist: they ended up perfectly cooked anyway.
Finally, the black rice. Cooking it was as complicated as my love life - too many variables and boiling over in confusion and In the end, my salad may not have won any culinary awards, but it sure served up a nice healthy lunch. Now, who’s got the takeaway menu for tonight?
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced
1 inch of fresh root ginger, grated
180g king prawns, shells removed and deveined
250g pre-cooked black rice
pinch of salt
1 small onion, thinly sliced
pinch of crushed chilli
1 avocado, sliced
25g rocket leaves
25g fresh spinach leaves
Instructions:
1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the red pepper for 5 minutes, then add the chopped ginger and cook for a further minute.
2. Stir in the black rice, onions and crushed chilli. Add the prawns and cooked rice and continue stirring until the prawns are cooked through.
3. Tip the rice mixture into a large salad bowl and fold through the salad leaves and sliced avocado.