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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.
This looks like heaven! Thank you for making my new gluten free life so wonderful!! Ninja Give A Way is exciting!
Wow would never have thought of that combination , please enter me into the giveaway 🙂
I enjoy your postings both on the Website and Facebook. Would love to have the Ninjas to try more recipes. Thank you for all you do!
This sounds delicious! Eating g-free means lots of salads, and I miss a bit of grain now and then. Never thought about adding some rice to one. Would love to win a Ninja! Thanks!
Great recipe!
Thanks for the great salad recipes!
Now….if only I had a new blender to whip up some awesome dressings with…hmmm. 🙂
I definitely need to try this and would love to be entered in the giveaway