SERVES 
I love grain based salads. The rice and fresh vegetables paired with sweet but tart dried cherries and the toasted almonds gives the salad a earthy and special flavour. This salad can be a side dish or a main, depending on your guests and your menu.
Find more recipes in The Jewish Food Hero Cookbook: 50 Simple Plant Based Recipes For Your Holiday Meals available here.
- Cook the rice according to the directions, making sure to rinse the rice before cooking.
- After the rice is cooked, spread it out on a baking sheet and allow it to cool for 1 hour. This is important for the overall appearance of the rice salad and keeping it from looking like “rice mush”.
- Dice the vegetables, garlic, shallots, onions and cherries to small diced size and set aside in a large prep bowl.
- Place all diced vegetable EXCEPT the spinach into salad bowl and set aside.
- Slice the almonds and toast them until slightly golden and set aside to cool (around 5 min)
- Blend lemon juice, salt and sugar into a dressing and set aside.
- Pour dressing mixture over the vegetables and mix gently with your hands.
- Add the rice, spinach and almonds and mix gently by hand.
- Taste and add more salt, pepper or sugar to taste.
- Transfer to a pretty salad bowl.
- Serve at room temperature or cold.
