Truly Yummy Baked Rice & Salsa
Gluten free and dairy free baked rice & salsa. Recommended ingredients green olives, walnut halves, pomegranate seeds, fresh mint, extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate molasses, garlic, basmati rice, salt & pepper, Violife Greek White Block or ewe's milk feta.
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
- 1 oven proof dish
Ingredients
Salsa
- 100 g pitted green olives, thinly sliced
- 240 g pomegranate seeds / 1 whole pomegranate seeded recommend pack of pomegranate seeds rather than preparing a whole fruit
- 100 g walnut halves, roasted and chopped - see below
- 30 g removing 3 sprigs for the baked rice, finely chop the remaining fresh mint leaves
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
Baked Rice
- 200 g basmati rice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 sprigs of fresh mint leaves left on the stalk
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 400 ml boiling water
- 200-250 g block of feta, chopped into 1cm cubes recommend Violife Greek White Block or if you can tolerate a little ewe's milk some supermarkets sell 100% ewe's milk feta
Instructions
Salsa
- Preheat the oven to 200℃/Gas Mark 6.
- Lay the walnuts on a baking tray and lightly roast in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven, leave to cool and then chop into smaller pieces.
- Place the sliced green olives, pomegranate seeds, chopped fresh mint and chopped walnut halves into a small bowl.
- Add the dressing ingredients - crushed garlic, extra virgin olive oil and pomegranate molasses plus a little salt and pepper and give everything a good mix.
- Set to one side whilst the rice is baking. Alternatively cover and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Baked Rice
- Pour the rice into the oven proof dish.
- Season this with the salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil and top with the fresh mint sprigs.
- Add the boiling water, do not stir and cover tightly with tin foil.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- When the cooking time is up, carefully remove the foil and check that the rice is cooked through and all the liquid has been absorbed, leaving the rice light and fluffy. If necessary, return it to the oven for a few more minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid has fully evaporated.
- Remove the mint sprigs from the rice, strip the cooked leaves from the stalks and finely chop them. Stir the chopped mint into the salsa.
Assembly
- Carefully pour the salsa over the top of the baked rice including all of the delectable dressing.
- Finally, sprinkle the feta cubes over the top of the salsa.
- Serve straight away or allow the rice to cool before putting it in the fridge to serve cold later or the next day.