Rice Salad With Portobellos, Smashed Cucumbers & Salsa Verde

Author Notes

Looking for a portable, make-ahead dinner for the lazy days of summer? Reach for the bag of rice in your pantry, and make this hearty, umami-packed rice salad. The steps are simple, either done in one fell swoop or simple stages. Make a pot of fragrant rice. Sear dense, meaty portobellos in a skillet until deeply caramelized. Make salsa verde, then smash and marinate cucumbers in it. (Smashing cucumbers with the back of a knife, a technique commonly used in Sichuan cooking, creates lots of nooks and crannies to soak up the salsa verde.) All that’s left is tossing all of the components together, with crushed pistachios, currants, and dill for good measure. The flavors are bold and unexpected, the sweetness of the currants a pitch perfect contrast to the savory mushrooms and anchovies.

A few tips and notes: For rice salads, my go-to method for cooking rice is Meera Sodha’s Basmati Rice recipe from Made in India, which yields light, fluffy, separate grains of rice every single time. Another method that works well is cooking the rice like pasta (in a big pot of generously salted water), then draining and spreading it out on a rimmed baking sheet to cool.

Like most rice salads, this one is endlessly adaptable. Feel free to use brown basmati rice, or another long-grained rice, adjusting the cooking time accordingly. Swap in another type of mushroom (or a mixture) for the portobello, and change up the herbs, nuts, and dried fruit too. Because the ingredients hold up, the salad is equally delicious warm, at room temperature, or cold, and it keeps well for days in the fridge. To stretch leftovers, top with a fried egg, or stir in some shredded chicken or flaked salmon or tuna. —EmilyC