break so far has been glorious. my days consist of:
- lots of baking/cooking
- $30 sushi lunches (because the birthday girl NEEDED another worthless toy, and you can only get toys every 15 plates of sushi, and i couldn’t convince her that we really didn’t need more sushi sigh)
- last minute disney trip contemplations (but i ended up not bc i’m in socal 3/4 of the time anyways, so why should i go back down when i’m finally home?)
- working out (shocking bc i haven’t worked out this much in a whileeee)
- being extremely grateful that i can drive places instead of relying on slow, late and packed buses (it’s great being able to go on a 20 minute target run, instead of a 2 hour one)
- thinking maybe i should balance the coconut espresso cake, yaki manju, macadamia nut shortbread and chocolate peanut butter cupcakes with something a bit healthier, like this herby rice with grapes and pecans
this herby rice with grapes and pecans has a bunch of different flavors and textures, like all my favorite salads. there’s the slight chew from the rice, juicy crisp grapes, freshness from the herbs, crunchy nuts, a touch of heat from the hot sauce (my preferred hot sauce is chili garlic sauce though i did use sambal olek in the batch pictured here), and creamy briny feta (not pictured here but delicious with this nonetheless). perfect for make ahead lunches, perfect for a potluck side dish.
1 year ago: Coffee Almond Shortbread Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Waffles
2 years ago: Zha Jiang Mian, Vanilla Coconut Quinoa Pudding
3 years ago: Applesauce Granola

- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 T finely grated lemon zest
- 6 T lemon juice
- 1 T maple syrup or honey or agave
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- hot sauce ie sambal olek, chili garlic sauce to taste (optional)
- 2 cups rice cooked
- 6 green onions finely chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley leaves finely chopped (sub in cilantro or basil, or omit if you don’t like parsley)
- 1/4 cup mint leaves finely chopped
- 2 cups grapes halved
- 1/4 cup feta crumbled
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted (or walnuts, almonds, cashews, etc)
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Whisk the garlic, lemon zest and juice and syrup in a large bowl. Whisk in oil and hot sauce, if using.
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Add the rice, herbs, grapes and feta, stirring gently until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
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Cover tightly and chill well before serving. Serve at room temperature. Stir in the nuts right before serving.
Adapted slightly from Mollie Katzen’s The Heart of the Plate.
omnomnom i love chunky rice dishes and the flavours in this one are right up on my list of favourites.
thanks ruby! chunky and textured is exactly what i was going for (: