Cowboy Rice Salad

Take a trip out to the wild west with this SouthWestern COWBOY RICE SALAD! Based on the famous Cowboy Caviar, this brown rice salad is filled with bright, zesty flavours, plenty of juicy veggies, nutty brown rice and drizzled with a fabulous SouthWestern lime dressing!

Cowboy Rice Salad

The words “rice” and “salad” do not come naturally for people of Asian background. Rice is to Asians what bread is to Western countries. Growing up, we rarely had bread. In fact, when I visit relatives in Japan, the only reason they would buy bread is for us, thinking that we’ve been so westernised that we must have our bread fix, that rice is not enough!

For clarity, that’s not true. But I always find it funny that they purchase bread just for us!

So rice as a salad? Hmm. I don’t think that even exists in Japan. And I can’t think of a single rice salad from any Asian country – anyone care to enlighten me??

This is the first rice salad I’ve shared here on RecipeTin Eats. (Update: And in 2020, I shared another!) So I wanted to start off with a bang – and this Cowboy Rice Salad is a ripper! It’s a rice salad version of Cowboy Bean Salad  which is also known as Cowboy Caviar, a Midwestern salsa/salad that’s popular in the States. Made with tomatoes, capsicum / bell peppers, red onion, corn, beans and coriander/cilantro, Cowboy Caviar is dressed with a fairly sweet vinaigrette then served as a salad or salsa for scooping up with corn chips.

And you know what? The very first thought that popped into my head when I made it was that it would be purrrrrfect to adapt to a rice salad. And it is!

While the salad ingredients are largely the same – except, of course, the addition of rice (*head smack!*) – I opted for a lime dressing which is a bit lighter and has that citrus zing to it.

And I add a touch of spices to the dressing to really drive home that Southwestern flavour. And to give myself the best possible Cowgirl experience. 😇 Because we can all dream. 😂 Of living in the wild, wild west? – Nagi xx

PS I like making this with brown rice because I think the slight nutty flavour is fabulous for salads. But this works just as well with white rice.

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Cowboy Rice Salad

Author: Nagi

Prep: 20 mins

Total: 20 mins

Salad

Western

4.97 from 31 votes

Servings8

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A Southwestern rice salad filled with bright zesty flavours and tossed with a lime dressing. Made with brown rice for extra flavour, and a hint of spice flavour in the dressing to drive home the SouthWestern flavours! Serves 8 - 10 as a side, 4 - 6 as a main. Recipe video below!

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

Dressing:

• ▢ 1/3 cup lime juice , plus more to taste
• ▢ 1/2 cup olive oil
• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• ▢ 1/2 tsp chipotle powder (sub with smoked paprika + cayenne pepper)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
• ▢ 3/4 tsp salt
• ▢ Black Pepper

Salad:

• ▢ 1 red capsicum/bell pepper , diced
• ▢ 1 green capsicum/bell pepper , diced
• ▢ 1 small red onion , chopped
• ▢ 1 x 400g (14oz) corn kernels , drained
• ▢ 1 x 400g (14oz) black beans , drained and rinsed
• ▢ 3 tomatoes , watery seeds removed then diced
• ▢ 1 cup coriander/cilantro leaves , roughly chopped (Note 2)

Instructions

• Place Dressing ingredients in a jar, shake. Taste test, adjust to your taste.
• Place Salad ingredients and rice in a bowl. Drizzle with dressing. Toss, then serve. Fantastic served straight away and even the next day!

Recipe Notes:

1. I like making this with brown rice because I like the slight nutty flavour, I think it adds more interest to the salad. However, it's super terrific made with white rice too. If using white rice (normal, not jasmine/basmati or other fragrant white rice), it's best to use long grain rice. Next best is medium grain. Short grain and sushi rice will be a too sticky for this rice salad, in my opinion. 

If using WHITE RICE, you will need 1 1/2 cups of uncooked rice.

2. Coriander/cilantro is a pretty staple herb for a Southwestern salad! However, if you do not like / have it but are busting to make this salad (I don't blame you), I think the best sub is either 1 1/2 cups of finely sliced shallots / scallions or 3/4 cup finely chopped chives. Different flavour, but still a nice burst of freshness to replace the coriander. Parsley will also be a suitable substitute (3/4 cup chopped) however I don't think it adds flavour as much as the other subs I suggested.

3. Storage: Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

4. This rice salad is my rice salad version of this famous Cowboy Caviar by Culinary Hill!

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

 WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Cowboy Rice Salad recipe video!

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