Hello lovelies,
when summer calls for something fresh and colourful that still fills you up, this black rice salad with mango comes to our table. Black rice – you'll also find it as Venere rice or "forbidden rice" – is my secret favourite: it tastes nutty, keeps a lovely bite, and that deep purple-black next to the orange mango cubes simply looks stunning. Everyone at the table really does look twice.
Alongside the rice, the tempeh is the heart of this salad. I cut it into cubes, let it soak briefly in teriyaki sauce and then fry it in sesame oil until properly crispy – that's what gives the salad its savoury side and, as a bonus, plenty of protein. Then in go red pepper for colour, spring onions for a gentle bite, chopped cashews for crunch and lots of fresh coriander, and on evenings when cheese should play the salty, fried part instead of tempeh, I reach for my vegetarian roasted cauliflower bulgur salad with its pan-browned halloumi.
Black rice and tempeh
Black rice is a wholegrain, so it takes a little longer than white rice – count on around 30 to 35 minutes. In return it holds its colour and never turns to mush. Tempeh, meanwhile, is a fermented soybean cake and therefore much firmer and nuttier than tofu; it soaks up the teriyaki marinade like a little sponge and turns beautifully crispy in the pan.
Everything is brought together by a dressing of soy sauce, sesame oil, honey or maple syrup, lime juice and freshly grated ginger. Sweet, salty, sour and savoury – all in one spoonful. If you like more heat, stir in a dash of sriracha. And then it's into the fridge for at least 30 minutes, so all the flavours can mingle. That's exactly why this salad is my meal-prep hero for the week, and it shares the fridge with my vegan basmati parfait with mango puree, which turns leftover rice into dessert while the salad quietly gets better.
Do give it a try – it comes together in no time, looks wonderful on any buffet and tastes almost better on day two. If you love cold salads from the Asian kitchen, have a look at my Soba noodle salad with peanut dressing, at the summery Vegan poke bowl with watermelon tuna and at my Mango-curry tartare if you need even more mango.
