Brown Rice Salad with Spice-Roasted Carrots, Feta and Pine Nuts

Do you have recipe books that have some pages that are well truly food stained because you turn that recipe a lot. It is your goto. It is simple and a recipe that you really like. It is your saviour when you are trying to think of something to take to a bbq - the famous, “oh just bring a salad”.

This is from one of my all time favourite recipe books, “My Darling Lemon Thyme” by Emma Galloway. And she has a second book now too, “My Darling Lemon Thyme, Every Day”,chock full of doable recipes that taste great, family friendly and gluten free.

Ingredients

• 5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm thick diagonal slices

• ¼ cup finely chopped coriander stalks

• 3 Tbs olive oil

• 2 tsp cumin seeds

• 2 tsp ground coriander

• ½ tsp ground turmeric (+ ½ tsp more)

• 1 cup medium grain brown rice

• 1 ¾ cups water

• ½ cup currants or raisins

• 2 Tbs lightly toasted pine nuts

• Lg handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped

• Lg handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

• Crumbled feta/goat cheese to serve (optional - leave out for dairy free)

Lemon Dressing

• ¼ cup lemon juice

• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

• 2 tsp honey

• 3 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius

Combine carrots and spices in a bowl, season well with salt and pepper, mix well.SPread out on a baking tray single layer and roast for 20-25mins, turning often until golden brown, set aside and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, wash the rice and drain. Place rice, extra turmeric and water in a saucepan, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 40 mins or until water is absorbed and cooked. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 10 mins before removing the lid.

Make lemon dressing, whisking all ingredients together. Pour over the rice, stir in the carrots and spices left on the tray, currants, pinenuts, cilantro and parsley. Adjust seasoning if needed and serve with crumbled feta on top.

Leftover salad keeps well in the fridge the next day. Freshen up with a little salt and pepper and fresh squeeze of lemon juice.