WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
A grain-and-vegetable salad should present a satisfying mix of contrasting flavors, textures, and colors. The best can also be the simplest, as is the case here. Black rice, also known as forbidden rice, is an ancient grain that was once reserved for the emperors of China. It has a delicious roasted, nutty taste that works extremely well in many dishes, especially salads. We thought it would be a successful pairing with crunchy sea beans, which develop their strong, briny flavor from the salty water and air in the marshes where they typically grow. One
hurdle was tempering the saltiness of the sea beans. Tasters found the beans overwhelming when simply added to the salad raw. Blanching them first helped to tame their saltiness and gave them a vibrant green color, creating a gorgeous contrast when tossed with the black rice. Since it’s easy to overcook black rice, that was our other concern in developing this recipe. We discovered that the best way to cook it evenly was to cook it like pasta (in the water we used for blanching the sea beans), giving it space to move around. After we drained it, we let it cool completely on a baking sheet. This ensured perfectly cooked grains that had the expected chew of black rice without any mushiness. Grapefruit segments offered a sweet-tart component that helped balance the salinity of the sea beans, and a simple vinaigrette (white wine vinegar, shallot, garlic, and honey) tied the whole salad together.
SERVES: 4 to 6
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 ounces sea beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1½ cups black rice
- 1 grapefruit
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 shallot, chopped fine
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
INSTRUCTIONS:
- PREPARE SEA BEANS
- Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot.
- Fill large bowl halfway with ice and water.
- Add sea beans to boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer sea beans to ice water and let sit until cool, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer sea beans to triple layer of paper towels and dry well.
- COOK BLACK RICE
- Return water in pot to boil, add rice, and cook until rice is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Drain rice, spread on rimmed baking sheet, and let sit until cooled, about 15 minutes.
- PREPARE GRAPEFRUIT
- Cut away peel and pith from grapefruit.
- Quarter grapefruit, then slice crosswise into ¼-inch-thick pieces.
- MAKE VINAIGRETTE
- Whisk vinegar, shallot, garlic, and honey together in large serving bowl.
- While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in oil until combined.
- ASSEMBLE AND SERVE
- Add rice, sea beans, grapefruit, and mint to vinaigrette in bowl and toss to coat.
- Serve.
