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
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:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Cowboy Rice Salad recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
Look who the Easter Bunny remembered to visit…. Don’t worry! They’re dog friendly Easter eggs, they aren’t made of chocolate!!
Gorgeous colours, textures, and flavours. Adaptable to whatever grain one likes, and whatever vegetables are in season. Like other commenters, I didn’t have a few of the ingredients, such as honey or chipotle powder, so subbed with maple syrup and a teaspoon of canned chipotles in adobo sauce. I probably tossed in some pasilla de Oaxaca chiles. And I harvested a few leaves of the garden kale (from under the snow) and used Nagi’s technique to rub the leaves in oil, salt and pepper to soften them up, and tossed those in, too. It was delicious with last night’s dinner, and incredible for lunch today, and now I’m going to get another serving just because. Thank you, can’t wait to try this one out in so many combinations!
So delicious, easy, and fun. Family loved it. I will be making it again.
Nice one.
To make the dressing oil free could you sub that out for something or just leave it out completely??
Hi Tara…the oil brings the dressing together..if you leave it out I think it will be too acidic. N x
Should this be served room temperature or cold??? I am about to make it for anniversary dinner.
Yes definitely Lisa, I would serve room temp. N x
This looks delicious. Do you think it would be ok to add black eyed peas as well?
You definitely could! N x
Love all your recipes! Gonna try this salad tomorrow with ribs for friends. I’m wondering if better fresh made or next day? Thx!
Nagi: This was a winner! I cook for ranches here in Montana. Our cowboys give it a big thumbs up. Thanks for a healthy salad to add to my recipe book!
Yeehaaa! That’s awesome to hear Steph, thanks so much!! N x
Why is it 4 cups of Brown rice and only 1 cup of white rice
Hi Susan, the recipe calls for 4 1/2 cups of cooked brown rice. If you wanted to sub with white, you’ll need to cook up 1 1/2 cups of UNCOOKED white rice. I hope that clarifies things 🙂 N x
Thank you. It’s great.
Super colourful and nutricious salad which was also absolutely delicious and quick and easy to prepare. The dressing is particularly good!!
Thanks Nagi
So I’m assuming this is a cold salad? Like the rice is the only thing cooked and it has raw corn and veggies
Easy to prep, very tasty & inexpensive
Hi! This looks delicious and I’m very excited to make it this week. Can you tell me should the rice still be warm when you mix the salad or should we cool it first?
Hi Micaela, sorry for the delayed response, I’ve been offline all weekend without reception! Let it cool down (it can still be slightly warm) just not hot. N x
I would like to make this to take on vacation. Do you think it can be frozen to keep longer? We’ll be there about a week.
Hi Tracy, you could freeze it but I’d leave out the tomatoes & herbs and add them once thawed. Keep the dressing separate too! N x
It takes an amazing taste to excite our pallets. This recipe was the only one to do it for a holiday/no guests can come over but we deserve wow/I could eat it every day/every week during Covid stay-at-home.
Not sure if I did something wrong Nagi , but my rice took 25 minutes to cook. I used Sunrise brown rice .
It was certainly worth the wait however as it was just delicious and so healthy.
Even better that I had all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge !
Cheered us up somewhat in this gloomy time . Thanks Nagi 😊
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I’m so glad it was worth the wait though Sue!! N x
Had this for dinner tonight – really good! Used spring onions instead of coriander, and maple syrup instead of honey. Thank you!
Sounds like you nailed it Hazel!! N x
Hi Nagi, I am not a fan of honey, so can I substitute it with something else?
Love your recipes as I am not a very good cook and need all the help that I can get!!
Hi Maria, you can sub with maple syrup – the sweet just balances the flavour in the dressing 🙂 N x
This salad is really yum, so colourful & fresh. Love the dressing! Another one to add to my favourites.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Simone! N x