Brown rice salads for summer: fresh and nutritious recipes.

It's difficult to make a summer risotto. Or maybe only after a downpour or a refreshing storm. But the properties of rice in summer change, and its versatility in the kitchen adapts to needs for freshness, lightness, and delicate flavors. It’s the time for rice salads, for cold pairings with meat and fish or even seasonal fruit.

Rice is better if you use whole grain or semi-whole grain. Especially for its ability to remain much more separate and intact when cold without releasing its starch content, which could turn out to be sticky and unpleasant to the palate when cold. First of all, what is whole grain rice and what is the difference with white rice? The grain of rice is made up of a surface layer called glume and a more internal part called caryopsis. The glume or husk consists of several thin overlapping layers. Whole grain rice retains all layers of the husk and only removes the outermost layer of the bran. If you start to remove some layers of husk, you obtain semi-whole grain rice. Finally, by completely removing the husk, the caryopsis is exposed and you end up with superfine white rice.

But the husk is important from a nutritional point of view, as it contains many vitamins and functional plant proteins. The composition of whole grain rice is as follows: Whole grain rice is composed of 11% water, 8% protein, 2.8% fat, 0.8% sugars, 1.5% ash, and 3.5% dietary fiber. It is very important nutritionally as it contains no gluten, it is highly digestible, excellent for weight loss diets and detox, and also ideal for those with blood sugar problems, as it releases sugars very slowly and thus reduces the release of glucose. It keeps cholesterol levels in check and has high antioxidant properties. For cooking, logically longer, it is recommended to use one part of rice and two parts of water. Pour the rice into the boiling water and then lower the heat for about 40-50 minutes. Whole grain rice provides 111 calories per 100 grams of product.

Here is a classic rice salad, like the one made by a grandmother from Verona, with hard-boiled eggs, Monte Veronese DOP cheese, steamed vegetables like carrots, green beans, peas, fresh Pachino or datterini tomatoes, cow's mozzarella, or buffalo mozzarella from Campania DOP, a bit of oregano or fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil. In her time, superfoods, new trends like boiled corn, quinoa, American wild red rice, basmati, black Venus rice, etc. were missing.

But let’s look at some more innovative recipes for a refreshing serving of whole grain rice that’s tasty and summery.

Pistachio salad. Large zucchini, green peppers, arugula, green apples, basil leaves, and pistachios. Semi-whole grain rice or black Venus rice is excellent.
Vegan salad. Chickpeas, pitted olives, cherry tomatoes, bay leaves, sweet vinegar, oregano, and marjoram, cubes of tofu.
Milanese salad. Saffron, fresh peas, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and mint
Goat cheese salad from Orosei. Fresh cooked peas, diced carrots, and pieces of goat cheese from Orosei, to which you can also add peppers and mint.
Walnut salad. A few walnut halves, lettuce, Belgian endive, apples, raisins, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice. Celery and fennel to be added raw.
Basmati rice with ginger and Sicilian tuna. Tuna from Mare dell’Etna, carrots, zucchini, scallions, celery stalks, ginger for seasoning, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Basajo rice with turmeric. Cubes of Basajo cheese, walnuts, zucchini, green beans, celery, sesame, turmeric, and apple cider vinegar.

Bernardo Pasquali