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O boy! Do I have the easiest most amazing saffron rice salad for you for dinner tonight!
I’m not going to lie… I made this vegan salad the other night as a way to use up what I had in my fridge and it turned out to be a gluten- and dairy-free masterpiece. My family loved it, but that doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. They’d eat a sock if it was covered in hummus.
Simple rice is tossed with creamy hummus then jazzed up with pecans, dried cherries, asparagus, saffron, scallions, cilantro and pretty lettuce leaves. If you can believe it, this recipe can be whipped up in less than 5 minutes is you make the rice ahead of time (say, the night before).
Easy, right? Told ya it was simple.
It’s great for a weeknight dinner and leftovers taste twice as good the next day.
O ya and toss in a bit of fresh lemon zest while you’re at it.
When in doubt, add lemon zest, sea salt and crushed red pepper flakes.
That, folks, is the secret to my easy ‘clean’ cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup uncooked rice
- 1/2 tsp. saffron threads
- 4 Tbsp. Sabra Traditional Hummus
- 1 bundle fresh asparagus cut into 1/2 inch pieces and ends removed
- 2 scallions thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/6 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 3 cups mixed salad greens
Instructions
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Cook rice according to package directions. Add in saffron threads 5 minutes into cooking.
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Remove from heat, add in asparagus pieces and mix well to combine. Cover and set aside for 10-15 minutes.
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In a large bowl, combine rice mixture with humus. Add scallions, cilantro, sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, dried cherries and pecans; gently toss to combine.
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Serve rice mixture amongst six plates atop a bed of fresh salad greens.
love salads for dinner in the summer and this one sounds like it’s going on the list. Love it. thanks for posting this.
This salad looks great, can’t wait to try it!!!!
Red pepper flakes make everything better!
Would love a chance to win the Organic Girl giveaway. I would be one happy girl!
Thanks Amie! This looks amazing! I can’t wait to.make this in the firehouse for my crew!
Thanks Ray; so GREAT to hear from you buddy!!!
That salad looks incredible! I love the addition of the saffron rice.
This looks awesome … dressing is really outstanding , salad is looking different and delicious. I think it is the best salad I’ve seen . I can’t wait any more to eat such a delicious salad.
This looks amazing!!
This salad looks absolutely DELICIOUS! I <3 having salads for lunch. This one would be perfect!!
Just reading today about the brain-health benefits of saffron. This looks yummy and it’s good medicine!
Yum saffron! And I have a bunch of pecans from a friends farm I can use!
I love the touch of saffron in this salad!
That looks amazing! I make a lot of salad and I’m always trying to think of fun new additions to add on top (wheat berries, bulgur, black bean ‘salsa’, etc) but I haven’t tried rice yet!
I love salads! I have at least one, every day. It never gets old!
I’m definitely going to try out this salad soon! I love it that people are coming out with more and more gluten-free recipes!
Also, I would like to be entered for the Organic Girl giveaway, please. 🙂
I absolutely love baby greens and the organic, pre-washed kind are the best! Making salad couldn’t be easier 🙂
Yum! Now I’m hungry.
I have saffron and didn’t know what to do with it! I’m trying this!
This looks scrumptious! I love adding grains to my salad and can’t wait to try the saffron! I also love Organic Girl greens! Perfect combo. Thanks for an awesome giveaway!
Delicious!