Cold Zucchini Carrot Basmati Rice Salad & Catching a Fresh Zucchini

“Hurry up I must catch a zucchini!” The first words uttered as I woke up this morning..the effects of the time change or ‘fuso d’orario’ as it is referred to in Italian… had me thinking and talking clumsily… I planned out a cold rice salad for lunch today..but found out when I arrived that the only ingredient we were without was zucchini..this would be a refreshing salad with fresh zucchini, carrots, parsley, cipollini, garlic, yellow and red peppers and basmati rice…but without zucchini it just would not be a salad….no zucchin ileft at our farm..so had to get them from a local farm or one of our neighbors..problem is stores are only open till 1 PM..and because of the time change and not getting any sleep for 2 days before I arrived I woke up this morning at noon (Italian time)..so had to run or my chances of finding fresh zucchini were slim…
Luckily all was resolved and I was able to find a local produce store with fresh zucchini..and voila my Cold Basmati Rice Salad was a success for pranzo (lunch)…. with just enough time to find zucchini and prepare. You can make this recipe with all raw veggies but I decided to saute them for a few minutes since not all of our guests like raw veggies..saute in white wine even the ‘non-veggie’ eater was quite happy with their dish!
Zucchini Carrot Basmati Rice Salad

* 1 cup cooked basmati rice
* 3 fresh zucchini cut into small cubes
*2 fresh carrots, peeled, cleaned and cut into cubes
*1 cipollini, cleaned and cut into cubes
*2 cloves garlic,pinch of salt
*4 ounces dry white wine
* 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
*1 fresh green pepper, cleaned ,seeded and cut into cubes
*1 fresh red pepper, cleaned, seeded and cut into cubes
(If you want to keep veggies raw, you can skip the saute, just put all veggies cubed in a bowl ,toss with extra virgin olive oil, marinade for an hour.  Blend into cold rice and serve)
Place 2 tbsps. olive oil and garlic cloves in a saute pan, add in cipollini and saute till just golden, add in remaining veggies and wine. Toss in freshly chopped parsley Drizzle with remianing olive oil,,pinch of salt. Saute for 15 minutes or until veggies are desired tenderness. Toss into cooked rice.  Drizzle with remaining olive oil, cover bowl and refrigerate for one hour. Serve cold with a glass of dry white wine that has been chilled.


For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays and Special Occasions-2nd edition

*See you all at
–Festa Italiana-Seattle Washington, Sept 28, 29th.