Green Rice Salad
This year, renowned chef and former MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers has created a range of delicious recipes for the HomeAway.co.uk Travel Cookbook, perfect for people who relish the opportunity to immerse themselves in local cuisine whilst on holiday.
Inspired from her travels around the Americas, Thomasina has contributed six recipes, a collection of favourite dishes from holiday home owners around the world.
Thomasina Miers says: "Travelling and cooking are two of my biggest passions in life. There is nothing I enjoy more on holiday than exploring the local markets and trying local produce to find inspiration for my next family meal, so access to a kitchen is essential. Holiday home rentals are ideal, as they have all the space and facilities I need to store and experiment with my new-found ingredients."
Here is the first recipe:
Green Rice Salad
Feeds 6-8
200g basmati rice
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 small shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 large courgettes, diced
2 corn on the cob, kernels removed
A large handful each of mint and coriander and a smaller one of tarragon
4 plum tomatoes, diced
1 Scotch Bonnet chilli, finely chopped
160g feta, crumbled
3 Spring onions, finely chopped
3-4 tortillas
The juice of a lime
For the dressing
1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp soft brown sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 lime, juiced
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
90mls extra-virgin olive oil
Soak the basmati rice in cold water for 20 minutes and then rinse well in a sieve. Cover the rice in double the volume of water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the rice is just cooked, still with a light bite to it and has absorbed all the water. Season well with salt and pepper and 2-3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette above and leave to cool, unless you want a warm salad, in which case cover it with foil or some butter papers and keep warm in a low (100C) oven.
Meanwhile heat a large frying-pan over a high heat and when it is smoking hot, add the olive oil, and after a minute the shallots, garlic, courgettes and corn. Stir-fry them over a high heat for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables have taken a little colour and are just cooked through. You want the vegetables to keep their shape. Transfer the vegetables to a large salad bowl to allow them to cool down quickly. Cut the tortillas (corn if you can get them) into thin strips. Wipe out the frying-pan, add a little vegetable oil and fry the tortilla strips until they are golden and crispy.
Wash the herbs, finely chop them. Toss the vegetables and the rice with the tomatoes, spring onions, feta, lime juice and half of the chopped Scotch Bonnet. Save the remaining half to add at the end if you want the salad nice and spicy. Dress with enough vinaigrette to have a moist, but not too wet salad and check for seasoning. Finally toss in the fresh herbs and the tortilla chips.
This salad is glorious on a sunny day with any barbequed food.
All of Thomasina’s recipes are available at HomeAway.co.uk, along with hundreds of other recipes and tips that people have picked up on their travels around the world.