Rice Salad With Oranges, Olives And Almonds... - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice or 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small garlic clove, minced (1/2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 teaspoons orange juice
3 teaspoons sherry wine vinegar
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped green olives
2 oranges, peeled and cut into segments
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 teaspoons fresh minced oregano leaves

Preparation

Bring 4 quarters of water with salt to a boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over mediun heat until hot. Add rice and toast, stirring frequently until faintly fragant and some grains turn opaque (about 5 mins.).
Stir toasted rice into the boiling water; return to boil and cook uncover until rice is tender but not soft (8 to 10 mins for long gran rice, or 15 minutes for Basmati). Drain rice in a fine mesh strainer or colander and spread it on a trimmed baking sheet. Cool while preparing salad ingredients.
Stir together oil, garlic, orange zest and juice, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Combine rice, olives, oranges segments, almonds and oregano in a large bowl; drizzle oil mixture over and toss thoroughly to combine. Let stand up to one hour at room temperature, toss again and serve.
This salad is better eaten at room temperature.