Sesame Toasted Basmati Rice and Broad Bean Salad
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Serves 6 as side dish or saladDifficulty:
Easy
This recipe again seasonal inspired with the fresh broad beans. I have a little confession, I am not an advocate for frozen foods however there are three ingredients that I am completely fine and relaxed about. Frozen peas, broad beans and sweetcorn kernels. Like peas broad beans and corn start to deteriorate at a phenomenal fast speed once harvested, the sugars turns to starches and the fresh ingredient changes in front of your eyes. By letting the farmer freeze the peas, broad beans and corn at point of harvest ensure the freshness is captured immediately. Arguably it’s the freshest peas, broad beans and corn you will eat unless you have it growing in your garden and you pick and cook it immediately.
For this recipe, I’m cooking the rice in a slightly unusual way and you may think that I have finally lost the plot, but trust me, it’s deliberate and the results are delicious! First, I toast half of the basmati rice in toasted sesame oil in a saucepan until the rice is dark brown and looks nearly burnt, then the remaining rice and water are added to the pan and cooked until tender.
This dish is lovely eaten hot or cold. It’s one of those dishes that tastes even better the following day, so it’s a good idea to make a little extra and keep it chilled in the fridge.
Ingredients & Method
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 200g white basmati rice
- 650ml cold water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 100g chestnut mushrooms
- 100g leeks, washed and sliced
- 100g celery, diced
- 100g broad beans (shelled weight)
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon golden linseeds, toasted
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
- sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat until hot (don’t use too high a heat level as the sesame oil will burn easily). Add half of the dry basmati rice and salt and pepper to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes or until the rice is deep golden brown and toasted, stirring continuously as the rice will catch and burn easily.
Once the rice is toasted, add the rest of the rice and the water to the pan, then cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave the rice to rest in the covered pan for about 20 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Holding the lid firmly in place, give the saucepan a good shake to fluff up the rice.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the mushrooms, leeks and celery over a high heat for 5–6 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, cook the broad beans in a pan of boiling salted water for a couple of minutes, then drain, refresh in iced water and drain again. Pop the tender, bright green beans out of their outer grey skins by squeezing gently. Discard the outer grey skins and reserve the inner bright green beans.
If you are serving the dish hot, add the hot sautéed mushroom mixture, spring onions and peeled broad beans to the hot fluffy toasted rice, adjust the seasoning to taste, and then sprinkle the golden linseeds and sesame seeds over the salad. Serve immediately.
Alternatively, if you wish to serve the dish cold, let the cooked rice cool completely before you add the rest of the ingredients (let the sautéed mushroom mixture cool too before adding this to the cold rice), then chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve.