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Brown Rice Salad w/ Cherry Tomatoes, Halloumi + Pomegranate Dressing

Sprouted legumes and toasted seeds bring all the crunch to this substantial brown rice salad, while tomatoes and herbs add freshness and fried halloumi a lovely salty kick. Some finely sliced red onion is also a great addition to this salad, if you like salad with a bit more bite. You’ll find pomegranate molasses at specialty food stores and some supermarkets.
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 cup medium-grain brown rice rinsed
  • 200g packet packet crunchy sprouts bean combo (or a mixture of home-sprouted legumes such as lentil, blue peas and mung beans)
  • 1/2 cup lightly toasted pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup lightly toasted sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup lightly toasted sesame seeds
  • 250g cherry tomatoes halved
  • 200g packet halloumi cheese sliced
  • Olive oil to shallow-fry
  • Generous handful of mint and parsley leaves roughly chopped

Pomegranate dressing

  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • The juice of 1 large lemon
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Generous pinch caster sugar
  • Fine sea salt to taste

Instructions

  • To cook brown rice, place rinsed rice into a medium heavy-based saucepan, cover with 1 3/4 cups cold water, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting, cover with a lid and cook 40-45 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice tender. Remove from heat, keeping lid on an allow it to stand for 10 minutes, before removing the lid, fluffing rice up with a fork and setting aside to cool. This can be done in advance.
  • In a large bowl, combine cooled rice, crunchy sprouts, toasted seeds (reserve a few for the top if you like) and cherry tomatoes. Heat a large frying pan over high heat, add a touch of olive oil and fry halloumi slices until golden on both sides. Remove from pan and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add to the rice salad, along with the chopped herbs.
  • To make the dressing, combine pomegranate molasses, balsamic and lemon juice in the small bowl, whisk in olive oil and season to taste with sugar and salt. If it’s still too sharp add another tablespoon of olive oil.
    Pour enough dressing over salad to coat (you make have extra dressing) and serve.

Notes

Recipe first created for and featured in Nourish Magazine (NZ).