Brown Rice and Cabbage Salad

Do you remember Roots zero heel shoes or the advent of Birkenstocks?  A time when “back to the earth” was a motto associated with earnest young reformers?  When granola and yogurt were new-to-us foods?  When carrot cake was the dessert to eat?  Then you may remember Harrowsmith magazine.

When I was a young wife, I used to eagerly await the arrival of the latest issue of Harrowsmith.  I’d set aside an afternoon to walk into town and read it at the library, taking care to have a pen and paper with me so that I could copy out any recipes that caught my eye.

Harrowsmith published three cookbooks, and I saved up to buy all of them.  The recipes in the books were submitted by the magazine’s readers, and were notable for their whole food ingredients and simple instructions.  They were a boon to a beginning cook with healthy eating on her mind.

Looking at those recipes now, I see how much food has changed in the ensuing thirty years, and how much broader a range of cuisines and ingredients we can access.  Still, despite our more cosmopolitan tastes there is a good foundation here; an excellent opportunity to start with simple nutritious recipes and then branch out and make them your own.

This brown rice salad is from the first Harrowsmith cookbook.  It's simplicity itself and provides the crunch I crave while using ingredients that are readily available at this time of year.  I’ve changed it a little, using cabbage in place of mung bean sprouts and making the dressing with a fruit infused vinegar.  (This time I used peach vinegar.)  If you don’t have a fruit infused vinegar on hand, red wine vinegar is just fine.

To make Brown Rice and Cabbage Salad, you’ll need:

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup fruit infused vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 cups finely shredded cabbage
• 3 ribs of celery, sliced
• 1 cup of cooked peas

Combine the oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper in a jar with a tight fitting lid.   Put the lid on the jar and shake it until the honey is dissolved and the ingredients are well combined.

Place the brown rice, cabbage, celery, and peas in a large bowl and pour the dressing over top.  Toss the ingredients together until well mixed.

Refrigerate the salad until all the ingredients are well chilled.  


Recipe source:  The Harrowsmith Cookbook, Volume I, Pub. Camden House, Toronto, 1981


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This post is linked to Hearth and Soul Blog Hop hosted by Premeditated Leftovers, The 21st Century Housewife, Zesty South Indian Kitchen, and Penniless Parenting, and to Delicious Dish Tuesday hosted by Coping With Frugality, Mama Chocolate, and Full Time Mama.