Unicorn Rice Salad is the perfect dish for entertaining! It’s such a fun dish and so easy to prepare! I’m not one for strict recipes so this one is super flexible and you can adjust the vegetables to whatever is in season or available.
Unicorn Rice
3-4 Red Cabbage leaves (Use the outside leaves you would normally discard. They are richer in colour and you can get some use before they hit the compost).
1 1/4 Cups White Jasmine Rice
Pinch of Salt
2 1/2 Cups water
To make the Purple Rice roughly chop the red cabbage leaves into quarters. Place in a saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt.
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Stir and bruise the cabbage a few times to release the colour.
Strain into a bowl and discard the cabbage leaves to the compost.
Measure the liquid back into the saucepan in relation to how much is needed for the rice. You may need to top up with a little water if your purple liquid has evaporated. I used the absorption method so that the rice absorbed all the liquid and colour (If you have a rice cooker use that).
To cook the rice I first rinsed the 1 1/4 cups of rice with water to remove some starch and then added to the purple liquid. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer with a lid on for about 5 minutes stirring regularly. Reduce heat right down to the lowest setting and let the rice absorb all the liquid. You may have to add a little more water if needed.
Once the unicorn rice is cooked quickly rinse under water to remove extra starch. The colour should stay but try to rinse minimally.
Salad
2 cups of finely sliced red cabbage
2 orange carrots peeled and grated
1/2 Beetroot peeled and grated
1/2 Cup of parsley roughly chopped
1-2 Cups of chopped garden greens I used colourful Rainbow Chard.
1/2 pomegranate
1 Watermelon Radish (optional)
5 Snow Peas finely sliced
2 Purple Carrots peeled and thinly sliced on Mandoline
Edible Flowers to serve (Nasturtium, Pansey, Marigold, Calendula)
1/2 Lemon cut into 2 wedges
1 Packet of Haloumi, fried and cut into cubes (any protein could be added)
Your favourite Salad Dressing ( Mine is Japanese Sesame Dressing)
The Salad is totally flexible and just use whatever colourful vegetables you have growing in the garden or available to you. The above is just what I used and had in my garden at the time.
Add the sliced Red Cabbage, grated Beetroot and Orange Carrots into a bowl and mix well.
Lay your purple rice out on a platter and make a well in the centre (push more rice to the edges so you can see it when the salad is on top).
Sprinkle the chopped parsley on the rice.
Place your Red Cabbage mix along the centre of the rice.
Top with the rest of your veggies, Haloumi, Pomegranate, and edible flowers.
Serving
To serve up your salad add your dressing. In front of your guests squeeze quartered lemon wedges over the salad and rice. This will start to turn the rice hot pink!
Magic π
If you make my Unicorn Rice Salad be sure to tag me on Instagram @sustainable_holly so I can see your beautiful creations! Get Creative!
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
Nasturtium wraps with green papaya salad, Haloumi, garden greens, and edible flowers. I canβt even describe how incredible this tastes! The sweetness from the salad, salty Haloumi, and mild peppery nasturtium is an absolute combo Iβm telling ya!! Get amongst it β‘οΈ
Nasturtium Wraps
This recipe will serve about 4 people so halve it if necessary or just store the leftover salad for another meal!
Papaya Salad
2 cups grated green papaya
1 carrot
1 cup garden greens ( i used rainbow chard and kale)
1 packet of halloumi
8-10 fresh sugar snap pea pods
Dressing
1 TSB soy sauce
1 TBS sweet chilli sauce
1 garlic clove
1 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3-4 mint leaves
Nasturtium Wraps for Serving
10-15 Medium size nasturtium leaves
edible flowers to garnish
Method
Grate the green papaya and carrot and place in a salad bowl.
Slice up the garden greens (roughly 1/2cm wide strips) and add to salad.
Finely chop or mince garlic and add to a small bowl.
Slice mint leaves and add the remanding dressing ingredients and mix.
Pour dressing over the salad, mix and leave to marinate while you cook the Halumi.
Rinse nasturtium leaves and layout to dry on tea towel.
Finely slice pea pods and set aside.
Slice the haloumi into 1cm wide strips and add to a heated frypan on medium-high heat until lightly brown on each side. Slice in to bite size cubes and set aside.
Place nasturtium on a serving board and add a heaped tablespoon of salad to the centre of each. Add 3-4 cubes of haloumi on top.
Finally, place pea pod strips and edible flowers on top to serve.
Nasturtium wraps could be used for many different flavour combinations. They are so vesitile and a completely underated plant in my opinion! What have you used Naturtium leaves for? Let me know in the comments below.
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
These Flower, Herb and Seed Botanical Crackers are the perfect addition for any cheese platter! The nuts and seeds could be adjusted to whatever you have available, I’m all for kitchen experiments!
Recipe
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin/ pepita seeds
1/4 cup walnuts – chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries – chopped
2 TBS Poppy Seeds
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black cracked pepper
1/8 t baking powder
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 TBS Honey
4 TBS Cold Water
1 cup herbs and edible flowers roughly chopped. I used Marigold, parsley, thyme, rosemary, chive flower. Note: I did use borage but I wouldn’t recommend as it doesn’t look appealing after being cooked..
Method
Preheat oven to 200-220 Degrees Celcius.
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. Should be a sticky dough consistency.
Place mixture on a sheet of baking paper in the centre and make a rough ball.
Place a second sheet of baking paper on top and using a rolling pin roll out as thin as you can. You should try and roll out to a rectangle or a shape that will fit onto your baking tray. It is important to try and get the centre rolled out nice and thin so it can crisp up.
Once rolled out remove the top layer of baking paper.
Scatter the chopped flowers and herb on top of the rolled dough and gently press in so they stick.
Grind some extra salt and pepper on top.
Cut the dough into the size you want your crackers. I did roughly 6cm x 4cm.
Place the baking paper with your dough onto an oven tray and bake for 12-14 minutes until golden. The ends may crisp up before the centre so I kept an eye on it and cut off the end rows with scissors and allowed the centre to cook for longer.
Once you have made your own Homemade Botanical Crackers you will never look back. The reat thing about this recipe is that you can mix and match the ingredients to whatever you have availble! Get creative and try new versions each time. Remebr it is important to get the mixture rolled out as thin and even as possible.
Let me know if you make your own version of these Botanical Crackers i would love to see. You can tag me on Instagam π
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
