'Ancient Cumin' Dietician's Delight salad

Cumin is one of ancient spices used by mankind and has been around for 5000 years. It is a native of the Nile Valley.
Cuimin seeds have a very distinct aroma and flavor and featured in nearly every cuisine around the world. There is a folklore stressing the importance of cumin from middle ages. ‘It was believed that a happy life awaited the bride and groom who carried the cumin seed throughout the wedding ceremony’

Two years ago, My childhood friend, Jayashri Chari  visited me from India. Once for lunch we had the rice and bean salad at a local Mexican restaurant. We enjoyed the salad but felt that, the plain white rice, could be replaced by a tomato flavored rice, which we enjoyed in India. Another change I decided to make was to use brown rice instead of white rice
So here is refreshing take on the Mexican rice and bean salad

Dietician’s delight Salad                                                            Serves 8
This salad has all the ingredients that a dietician ordered you to eatThis recipe may seem lengthy, while the rice and beans are being cooked, the vegetables can be chopped simultaneously. The Leftover salad can be packed for lunch the next day

Tomato flavored Rice:
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 inch ginger, minced
¼ cup tomato paste
1 cup brown rice
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups water

Savory beans
1 can black beans (15 oz)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 inch ginger

Vegetables for salad
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 avocado, diced
2-3 green chilies (optional)
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Salad dressing
3 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup oil
2 Tablespoon limejuice
1 teaspoon salt (or as per taste)

Garnish
¼ cup feta cheese
5-6 tortilla chips

Add two and half cups of water in a pot and bring it to a boil

Wash brown rice in water and drain.
Heat a thick bottom pan and add oil. Add cumin seeds and wait for it to sizzle. Throw in ginger paste and stir for a minute. Add tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the brown rice and 1 teaspoon salt, stir for 4-5 minutes.  Add the hot water and cook on high heat for 5 minutes, without a lid. Lower heat and cover with a tight fitting lid, and cook for 30 minutes. Keep aside

Savory beans
Drain beans from can and wash it thrice under running to remove as much sodium as possible. In a pot of boiling water add beans, ginger and cumin. Boil vigorously for 5 minutes and drain . Keep aside

Salad dressing
Heat a small frypan and add cumin and black pepper. Roast it till the cumin changes to a darker brown shade and roasted aroma is released. Cool and grind it coarsely in  mortar and pestle or coffee grinder, which is used only for spices. In a small bowl combine lime juice, oil and spice blend. Whisk it well

In a giant salad bowl add rice, chopped vegetables, beans and salad dressing. Mix it well. Finally add the garnish of feta cheese and tortilla chips. Mix gently and serve immediately

Hema’s Hints:
Mix the vegetable, rice and bean mix ahead of time.
Add salad dressing just before you eat to the required amount of salad
You may substitute white rice for brown rice
And kidney beans for black beans
For a creamy version of salad dressing, add ¼ cup of sour cream

 

Comments

[Sean]

I tried this recipe. It's very delicious. It reminds me a little of paella.

This episode on cumin has been airing for the last 4 weeks on the Cupertino channel. I was wondering if there are other episodes in this new Spice It Up series, and/or if you have any control over which episodes they show since maybe they might not be aware that they are airing the same one again.

[Hema Kundargi]

HI Sean,

'Spice it up' series is a new production in progress. The same show is aired for 4 weeks. Currently I am working on the new show. It will feature the stinking rose 'Garlic'

I am glad that you liked recipe
Happy cooking,
Hema