Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad (Vegan GF)

A healthy, light and summery salad filled with roasted vegetables, sticky balsamic vinegar and lots of rice. With some fresh herbs, crunchy seeds and lots of colours, this naturally vegan and gluten-free rice salad is a great side dish.

This Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad is one that I have made for a few years now and it always goes down such a treat at BBQs and picnics. It is so easy to make and is great for meat-eaters and veggie-lovers, too. It has so much flavour thanks to the balsamic roasted vegetables and that’s all there is to it. You’ll need just a handful of ingredients, stir it all together and serve it up for family and friends.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad

The base for this Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad is cooked rice, it’s great with white or brown rice or try it with another grain, too, if you prefer. Then come the vegetables, I like to use chopped pepper, courgette and red onion. Chop them all into small pieces and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Make sure to season with vegetables well with salt and pepper and then roast them until they are really tender and sweet. They will turn wonderfully sticky, too.

The fresh veggies I like to use in this Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad are sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes and chopped spinach. These all make for such a vibrant and colourful salad. Add in some fresh lemon juice and zest, crunchy pumpkin seeds and that’s it.

I love serving this Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad is a big bowl topped with fresh herbs, some sesame seeds and fresh lemon wedges. It is delicious served alongside BBQs, other salads and other picnic foods.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad

I hope you love this Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad, too, it is so easy to make and has so much flavour. Packed with colourful vegetables, crunchy and soft textures and so many options to explore with your favourite vegetables – try out grated carrot, roasted broccoli, roasted squash or sweet potato…

If you are looking for more salads, how about my Grilled Tomato and Chickpea Panzanella Salad, Brussel Sprout Red Cabbage and Hazelnut Slaw, Nutty Rice Salad or Tahini Noodle Satay Salad.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad (Vegan GF)

• Servings: 4-5 as a side
• Time: 30 minutes plus cooling
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A healthy, light and summery salad filled with roasted vegetables, sticky balsamic vinegar and lots of rice. With some fresh herbs, crunchy seeds and lots of colour, this naturally vegan and gluten-free rice salad is a great side dish.

Ingredients

• 200g rice (white or brown)
• 2 peppers (red, yellow or orange), small dice
• 1 large courgette, in rounds
• 2 red onions, in chunks
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 70g pumpkin seeds
• 160g sweetcorn
• 100g fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 40g spinach, chopped
• To serve: fresh coriander, black sesame seeds, lemon wedges

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line 2-3 baking trays with parchment paper. Add the diced pepper, courgette and red onion to the trays and drizzle with 2-3 tbsp olive oil and 2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes, turning over halfway through. Allow to cool.
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice and allow to cool.
3. Add the rice to a large mixing bowl along with the roasted vegetables and all their cooking juices/oils, zest and juice of 1 lemon, pumpkin seeds, sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes and chopped spinach. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Stir through 1 more tbsp each of balsamic and olive oil, if you need more of a tang.
4. Serve room temperature with some fresh herbs, seeds and lemon wedges.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad

I look forward to hearing what you think of this Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad and hope you enjoy it at your next BBQ. Let me know what you think and tag me in your creations, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With rice salad love x

I shot this recipe with the gorgeous range from Denby Pottery which was gifted to me and you can also see the recipe on their website, too!