Louisville Rice Salad

A delicious cold rice salad recipe given to me by my sister who lived in Louisville, Kentucky for many years. It's one of my favorite side dishes in the spring and summer. This is a very flexible recipe. You can substitute any fresh herbs you have on hand for the chives and tarragon, vary the nuts used, use golden raisins or dark. We've made this recipe many different ways and I've yet to discover a variation we didn't like!

• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 40 mins
• Calories: 400 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup raisins (Optional)
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• ¼ cup wine vinegar
• ½ cup toasted slivered almonds (Optional)
• ½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper (Optional)
• ½ cup mandarin orange segments, drained and coarsely chopped (Optional)
• ½ cup finely chopped onion (Optional)
• ½ cup finely chopped celery (Optional)
• ½ cup green peas (Optional)

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Bring rice and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 2

Let rice cool for at least 30 minutes, stirring several times as it cools. Transfer to a large salad bowl.

Step 3

Mix vegetable oil, lemon juice, wine vinegar, sugar, chives, tarragon, and salt together in a bowl until the sugar and salt have dissolved.

Step 4

Pour dressing over the cooled rice and stir to combine.

Step 5

Mix your choice of slivered almonds, raisins, mandarin orange segments, onion, celery, bell pepper, and peas into the rice mixture and lightly toss to combine.

Step 6

Cover salad and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.