I’ve always enjoyed forbidden rice, that special black sticky rice that reportedly was only eaten by the Chinese Emperor and forbidden to the commoners. While visiting Gary and Gretchen in Spokane, Gretchen served me a version of this salad and was gracious enough to share the recipe with me. This is a slight adaption. Of course it is gluten-free.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups of organic forbidden black rice (or a mix of black and red)
• 2¾ cups of water
• ½ tsp of salt
• 1 tsp chicken-like seasoning
• 2 or 3 large ripe mangos, diced
• 1 medium ripe avocado, diced
• ¼ cup coarsely-chopped almonds, roasted in oven or in a dry skillet
• ½ cup red onion, diced fine
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Ingredients for Dressing

• ¼ cup lime juice
• 1 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
• 1 tsp liquid honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
• ½ tsp onion salt

Preparation

Place water, salt, and chicken-like seasoning in saucepan over medium heat. Rinse rice in a mesh strainer and add to saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until rice is tender and water is absorbed. This may take up to 45 minutes.

When the rice is done, place in a large bowl and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. (You can also cook the rice the day before and refrigerate, which will speed up preparation on the day you want to serve it.)

To prepare dressing, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place in the refrigerator until cool. Pour cooled dressing into the bowl of cooled rice and stir well. Cover and put in the refrigerator until ready to assemble and serve.

Serving

Remove cooled rice/dressing mixture and stir well. Fold in cilantro, red onion, and mango.

Divide into four cold salad bowls and top with roasted chopped almonds and avocado.

Goes well with pan-roasted spears of asparagus or steamed broccoli florets and toasted wedges of sourdough rye bread.