Beet and Brown Rice Salad with Goat Cheese
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- Yield Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown basmati, or other brown rice
- 1 bay leaf
- Coarse salt
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 4 medium red beets (about 1 pound), without greens, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- Freshly ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
- 2 ounces (about 3/4 cup) soft goat cheese, crumbled
Directions
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Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in rice, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered.
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Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until nuts are just browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer nuts with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.
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Reduce heat to medium-low; add onions and garlic to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add beets and 1 teaspoon salt; season with pepper. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until beets are tender, about 25 minutes (if beets stick to skillet, add up to 1/4 cup water).
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Remove bay leaf from rice. Stir rice, half of pine nuts, the lemon zest, and parsley into beet mixture. Transfer to a platter. Top with remaining pine nuts and the goat cheese. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.
WOW! This is really good! I doubled the amount of pine nuts and goat cheese, and I mixed all the pine nuts in rather than using half as a garnish, otherwise I followed the directions exactly, worked perfect. I tried eating both hot and room temp--hot was definitely better, really enhanced the flavors. It was great left-over (hold the goat cheese until serving) so you could definitely make in advance. Very festive for a holiday meal with the red and green (parsley) and the white cheese.