Warm brown rice salad with roasted aubergine and pistachios
In true new year’s resolution style, I’m starting the year with a nice healthy recipe – this warm brown rice salad with roasted aubergine and pistachios. I must say, considering this recipe is on the healthier side (there’s no cheese or chocolate, at least), it’s delicious – plenty of yummy bits. Sun-dried tomatoes, pistachio nuts, capers, lots of fresh herbs… it all adds up to a seriously delicious brown rice salad.
Not forgetting that roasted aubergine…
I can’t quite decide whether roasted aubergine looks really tasty, or just a bit weird and wrinkly (I suppose a bit of both), but the important thing is that it tastes awesome. So it’s got that going for it. Just don’t look at it too closely, as it does look slightly alien.
I chopped all my ingredients quite coarsely, so they all retain their own texture and you get something different in each bite. The crunchy pistachios, chewy sun-dried tomatoes, juicy roasted aubergine…
I’m so glad I still have some leftovers in the fridge. That’s my lunch sorted. This brown rice salad works really well as a light lunch or dinner on its own, or you can serve it as a side dish if you’d prefer. Delicious, beautiful and versatile.
How do you feel about new year’s resolutions? I know some people think that you should pursue your goals all year round, not just in January – but I figure every little helps, no? I’d rather eat healthily and be more organised (which are always two of my resolutions) for a few weeks out of the year than not at all. So I say, resolve away. Especially if it tastes this good.
Warm brown rice salad with roasted aubergine and pistachios
Ingredients
- 1 medium aubergine (eggplant), cut into 1 inch dice
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 200 g brown rice (~ 1 cup)
- Small handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
- Small handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- ~ 6 pieces large sun-dried tomato, roughly chopped
- 50 g pistachio nuts, whole or roughly chopped (~ 1/4 cup)
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Toss the diced aubergine in a little oil with some salt and pepper, and spread it out in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast at 180°C (Gas Mark 4 / 350°F) for around 25 minutes, or until the aubergine is soft and juicy.
- Meanwhile, boil the brown rice in plenty of water until cooked to your liking (around 20 minutes). Drain, and transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl.
- To the rice, add the remaining ingredients, including the roasted aubergine. Mix well to combine, and serve warm.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/4 of the recipe.
If you love aubergine with rice, try my mozzarella-stuffed aubergine and rice balls (they’re like a cheater’s arancini!)
Hi, Becca,
I made this tonight, and it was a huge hit! Such a wonderful combo of flavors and textures. Thanks so much, as always, for your absolutely amazing recipes. Yum, I am already craving this again!
Nicki
Awesome! Thanks Nicki :)
A really tasty recipe Becca with lots of flavours colours and textures. My husband and I enjoyed it so much we had to draw lots to see who was going to take the rest for lunch . Luckily I won! By the way, I’m not keen on capers so added some yellow pepper to the aubergines instead which added another colour and I love roasted peppers.
Thanks so much Marion, glad you enjoyed it! Roasted peppers sound like a brilliant addition :)
My mother is a passioned lover of rice. I will surprise her with this recipe!
I’ve only recently come around to the joys of aubergine, so I can now appreciate your salad in a way I don’t think I’d have done a year or so ago. I have always adored pistachios :)
Did you used to dislike it?! It’s one of my favourites!
I had a bad reaction to it when I was young and just couldn’t face it for many many years. I wouldn’t quite say it’s a favourite now, but I do like it.
I had the same with kiwis actually – I had a bad one as a kid and I’ve not really liked them since!
This really does sound delicious! And you’re right, aubergine has a way of looking both tasty, and a little weird. This salad sounds like a perfect lunch or light dinner. I wish I had a big bowlful right now!
I’m a fan of setting goals at the new year, but I don’t like the term “resolutions”. Somehow the standard NY resolutions always seem so strict and harsh and unachievable to me, and I’d rather set good intentions for the year ahead, and set my focus on where I’d like to go. I do think it’s valuable to look back at the previous year and think about what changes you’d like to make, though, and as you said — every little bit helps!
I like the sound of setting good intentions for the year ahead. A lot of people these days seem to choose a word for the year, like bravery or happiness or organisation, which can then find its way into all areas of your life. I quite like that idea.
I like that idea, too! I’ve actually been trying to come up with a word, but having a hard time narrowing it down. I can think of so many that embody things that I want to strive for. The one I’m leaning towards most right now is authenticity — a reminder to be me, and not get pulled in directions that aren’t right for me just because they seem like the way other people are going.
Do you have a word you like for the new year?
I haven’t given it much thought really, but I do like authenticity!
Wat a great way to make aubergine more exciting. Looks really healthy and tasty too
Lovely recipe Becca, so healthy! Definitely making this!
This looks great! Healthy, yet full of flavor. I also love all the colors and textures you got in this dish. A great way to start the new year for sure!
How yummy! I love all the mix ins and flavors that you added, very Italian! And the nuts sound so perfect for some crunch. I could eat a big bowl of this!
This sounds yummy – and, as well as a lovely filling dinner now, would be so tasty cold for a buffet lunch or picnic meal if we ever get back to summer!!
Becca, this sounds amazing!! It would make perfect winter time lunch or dinner. I don’t know why but I have never thought of using pistachios in anything savoury… I’m very intrigued (!)
Haha really! I’ve never thought of them as being a particularly sweet nut, although I have used them to make baklava etc in the past. They go really well in savoury dishes too :)
Well. . .I think of New Years resolutions as a starting point to make sustainable changes to one’s life (not a one month time frame that I go to the gym or eat a certain way). For me, the downtime during the holidays affords me the time I normally wouldn’t have to reflect on the meaningful changes I want to make and pen down my goals and a plan to enable them. I think that is the beauty of the New Years resolutions. But if you are not committed in the long haul. . .well. . .it really doesn’t make sense.
This is such a beautiful salad to kick the new year off with (resolutions or not). And never under estimate the beauty of the aubergine. It’s wrinkly appearance adds another textural element to al already tasty looking salad.
Good thoughts about new year’s resolutions! I definitely always aim to be committed in the long-term but sometimes it doesn’t work out haha
Looks amazing Becca! I have some aubergines in the fridge so need to make this pronto. I might use pine nuts instead of pistachios though… YUM
It’s so adaptable, I’d just chuck in whatever you have in the cupboard :)