Have you ever had a cold rice salad? This was my first time trying it and I quite liked it.

To me, and probably many other people, cold rice does not sound very appealing. However, when it’s mixed with lots of other ingredients, it all works together and the rice adds such a nice textural component.

This is the “Fried” Rice Salad from the Thug Kitchen 101 cookbook. The idea of this recipe sounded so appealing and creative. You get the flavours of a fried rice, without any cooking (aside from the rice itself). This is a super fresh and colourful spin on the classic Chinese dish.

The main ingredients in this salad are: brown rice, kale, cucumber, green onion, corn, snap peas, cilantro. So there was quite a lot of green colour, but also so much freshness and textures. The peas and corn are sweet, the cucumber is crunchy and the rice has a nice nuttiness and slight chew. Everything worked together to make every bite a good one.

The dressing is a simple mix of rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger. That’s it. I found it a little too acidic for me so I added a couple of teaspoons to the dressing to neutralize some of the vinegar. But it was super zippy and I love the punch of the fresh ginger.

This was a really good side dish. The only thing it’s missing from being a complete meal is adding some protein. So you could add some edamame or tofu to keep it vegan/vegetarian, but sauteed chicken or beef would work too!