Mediterranean Rice and Pepper Salad

Good for potlucks, gluten-free, this salad is fresh and tasty. Cilantro lovers will especially enjoy this one. Notice that you must make this in advance and allow it to marinate for a half an hour (at least). Also leave advance time to cook the rice (45 minutes) if you are starting from scratch with no leftover rice handy.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked rice
1 chopped red pepper
1 chopped yellow pepper
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/3 c. pitted and chopped Kalamata olives
¼ c. fresh chopped cilantro (packed cup)
1/3 c. olive oil
3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp. dry white wine
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the rice. About one cup of uncooked rice will yield the three cups of cooked rice. I like to use exotic and wild rices (in combination). Ordinary brown rice will work fine with this recipe. It is also possible to substitute quinoa for the rice. Make sure the rice is cooled down to at least room temperature before adding any other ingredients (or the vegetables will wilt and the cheese will get mushy).

Chop the vegetables and cilantro and combine them with the (cooled) cooked rice. Add the olive oil, vinegar, wine, and black pepper. Finally, carefully fold in the crumbled feta. For an attractive appearance, save out some of the feta and cilantro to sprinkle on top.

Allow the salad to marinate in the refrigerator for at least a half an hour before serving. This dish goes well with other Mediterranean food, such as hummus, falafel, babaganoush (eggplant), or tomato/cucumber salad.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!