Thyme-roasted tomato + rice salad with preserved lemon + sumac
Add some cooked chickpeas for a more substantial stand-alone meal. I used medium-sized tomatoes, if you use cherry tomatoes reduce the cooking time and if you use large tomatoes, you’ll need to increase it. Finely grated lemon zest can be used in place of preserved lemon, if preferred.
Ingredients
1kgtomatoes
1 tablespoonfresh thyme leavesroughly choppped
1/2teaspoonsumac
Olive oil, salt and pepper
salad
1 1/2cupswhite basmati ricerinsed well
1/2red onionthinly sliced
1/2preserved lemonskin finely chopped
1tablespoonsesame seedslightly toasted
2tablespoonslemon juice
4tablespoonsextra virgin olive oil
big handfulcoriander (cilantro) leaves + tender stemsroughly chopped
small handfulflat parsley leavesroughly chopped
pinchdried chilli flakesoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 170C. Slice tomatoes in half and place onto an oven tray (or two).Sprinkle with thyme and sumac, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast 1 hour, or until slightly dried but still juicy in the centre.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add basmati rice and give it a good stir. Cook for 7 minutes, drain well then return rice to the saucepan, cover with a tight-fitting lid and set aside to steam for a further 15 minutes before fluffing up with a fork.
Transfer rice to a large bowl, stir through onion, preserved lemon, sesame seeds, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, before stirring through herbs, chilli flakes (if using) and roasted tomatoes. Any leftovers will store in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Notes
This recipe was created for and first featured in Nourish Magazine.