Dinner Tonight: Grains take center stage

This sheet-pan supper is inspired by the crispy rice salads of Southeast Asia.

Grains take center stage

Jack Bishop Author, editor, and avid home cook

I’ve never met a rice or grain I didn’t like. I appreciate their chewy texture and ability to fill me up in a way that proteins and veggies just don’t. And rice and grains carry flavors like a champ. This week I’m highlighting five warm-weather recipes that show rice and grains at their very best.

Let’s start with the cleverest recipe in the lineup, Lime-Glazed Salmon and Crispy Rice Salad. This recipe is a mash-up of two great dishes, glazed salmon and Thai or Laotian crispy rice salad. Everything cooks together on the same sheet pan thanks to some nifty arrangement of items. Chopped peanuts, handfuls of fresh herbs, and a punchy lime juice–fish sauce dressing brighten the crispy rice. And don’t worry, there are veggies too. Roast shiitakes with the rice, and add raw sugar snaps just before serving. This recipe is one of the best-ever uses for leftover rice.

Featured Recipe

Lime-Glazed Salmon and Crispy Rice Salad →

The air fryer does a surprisingly good job with chicken kebabs, making them an easy weeknight supper when paired with a bulgur and charred veggie salad. Give the red pepper and red onion a head start in the air fryer and cut the chicken into fairly large (1½-inch) chunks, which reduces their risk of drying out. Bulgur is ridiculously easy to prepare. Just add boiling water, cover, and wait 10 minutes or so. Chop the charred veggies and add them to the softened bulgur along with pistachios, lemon, and herbs. What a nice Mediterranean-style meal for two. (The recipe is easily doubled if that’s what you need.) There’s even a simple yogurt sauce, which doubles as a marinade for the chicken.

Quinoa Taco Salad is one of my wife’s all-time favorite ATK recipes. Swapping nubby quinoa for ground beef might seem like a stretch until you taste this refreshing version. A little anchovy paste amps up the meatiness. Vegetarians can certainly omit this ingredient, perhaps adding a touch more salt. Escarole is lovely here, but Lauren and I have had success with chopped romaine. We like to crumble a few store-bought tortilla chips on top for crunch, as well.

I’m a sucker for a good antipasto platter, which is why I find Antipasto Farro Salad with Arugula so appealing. A small amount of diced salami and provolone goes a long way when the base is a healthy farro salad tossed with mustard vinaigrette and studded with cherry tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, green olives, arugula, and a full cup of chopped basil. Now that’s a party in a salad bowl! Serve with a nice ciabatta or maybe a sunny-colored semolina bread with sesame seeds. Add a glass of Chianti or Pinot Grigio to complete the Italian vibe.

Brown rice is easy to cook if you treat it like pasta. Drain, rinse with cold water, and then toss with a mustard-balsamic dressing and arugula. Use the same mustard-balsamic mixture to marinate pork tenderloin kebabs and grill them along with peaches. Garnish the salad with toasted pecans to complete this Southern-inspired supper.

Summer is coming, and that means rice and grain salads have a prominent spot on my weekly menu. I hope these five recipes show why.

P.S. Have comments or suggestions? Drop me a line at [email protected].