Kabbouleh (aka Sqirl's Crispy Brown Rice Salad) {v}

Jessica Koslow of LA's super hip Sqirl took tabbouleh as a concept, reimagined it into a raw kale+cauliflower salad, and then made it everything extra with deep-fried crispy brown rice.

Admittedly, I am not a tabbouleh fan. The texture doesn't bother me, but I don't love the heavy handedness on the raw herbs. In the recipe header, Jessica says she created this as a more "winter-y" tabbouleh option, because tomatoes aren't good year round.

Without the rice, this salad is pretty good, full of tart, punchy flavor and delicious crunchy bits of raw cauliflower and kale. But it's the crispy rice that really elevates this salad from just another internet salad to truly the salad you should make for yourself. Right now.

It's true that it's a little disconcerting to deep fry brown rice, and there's planning involved since you need to cook and cool the rice well before it's fried, but.... the crunchy rice is so worth it. And once you make it, you'll realize you should be adding it to all your salads.

Although the recipe notes say you can make this salad without the sumac and the Aleppo pepper, it's really worth your time to find the sumac and Aleppo pepper. They're a lot easier to find than they used to be, and they add so much flavor in just a little sprinkle.

Original source: Everything I Want to Eat

Kabbouleh

Jessica notes that people use puffed rice cereal in place of the crispy rice and report that it's good. It's not crunchy though, it just has a nice textural pop, so if you have the time to plan ahead, it's worth it to make your own crispy rice, and you'll probably wish you'd made more.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Middle Eastern

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes

Rice cooling time: 8 hours hours

Total Time: 9 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people as an appetizer

Ingredients

Crispy Rice*

• ½ cup (100 grams) brown rice
• 3 cups avocado oil* or other oil with high heat point, like peanut

Dressing

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1½ teaspoons sugar
• ¼ pinch salt
• 1 clove garlic smashed
• 1 sprig thyme (about 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves)
• ¼ cup (35 grams) dried currants or barberries^
• ¼-⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salad

• 1 small bunch (about 220 grams) curly green kale ribs and stems removed
• 1 small head (about 200 grams; 1½ cups) cauliflower coarsely chopped
• 1 scallion sliced very thinly on the bias
• ½ Persian cucumber sliced very thinly crosswise
• 1 tablespoon ground sumac
• 1 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper or urfa biber or dried chile flakes
• 1 pinch salt

Optional when in season

• ½ pomegranate seeded (about ½ cup; 90 grams)

Instructions

Crispy Rice

• Bring a medium/large saucepan filled with 4-6 cups of salted water to a boil. Pour in the rice, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, 30–40 minutes. Drain the rice really well, letting it drip dry for about 15-20 minutes. Spread the rice out on a towel-lined plate or baking sheet; let dry out overnight, uncovered, in an unlit oven or on countertop (or in the refrigerator).
• Pour at least 3 inches (7.5 cm; 3-4 cups) of avocado oil into a wide pot with high sides (a round Dutch oven works well), then place over medium/medium-high heat. When the oil reaches 350°F (175°C), carefully drop in the cooled cooked brown rice all at once. It will bubble furiously, stand back. Let the rice fry in the oil without disturbing it for 1 minute. After a few minutes, the rice will look lightly golden; start to stir the rice using a slotted spoon or wire spider, cooking until golden brown all over. This may take longer than you expect, especially if your oil isn't hot enough. Carefully use the slotted spoon to transfer the crispy rice to a brown paper bag-lined plate to drain; season with salt and fresh cracked paper, and let cool.
• Once the oil is cool, you can strain it with a fine-mesh sieve and save it in the fridge to fry another day.
• [I've tested frying the rice in less oil and it doesn't work well, so don't be tempted to short-change yourselve. Even though it's a lot of oil, you need all that oil to maintain the heat when you drop in the rice, otherwise the rice will absorb way too much oil and get sticky, not crunchy.]

Sumac Dressing

• Combine ¼ cup of red wine vinegar with the sugar and salt, thyme sprig, and smashed garlic clove. Add ¼ cup of currants (or barberries^). Bring up to boil and let sit until currants are plump (about 20 minutes). When cool, strain the liquid into a small bowl or mason jar. Save the currants for adding later.
• Into the strained vinegar, add the olive oil, sumac, and Aleppo pepper. Whisk to combine completely (or shake with the lid on the mason jar). Taste for seasoning and add more if necessary. It should be quite tart.

Kabbouleh Salad

• Meanwhile, remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower and roughly separate the florets into segments. Wash and drip dry the cauliflower (check for slugs!). Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until finely chopped (it won't take long). Transfer to a large bowl. Wash and dry the small bunch of curly green kale, then tear the leaves off the ribs. [Easiest to accomplish by grabbing the bottom stalk-end of the stem in one hand then running your other hand upward along the stem using a tight hold to remove the leaves]. Working in two batches, pulse kale in food processor until finely chopped (be careful not to turn into a purée), adding to cauliflower bowl and stirring as you go.
• Slice the scallion on the bias, including the green top. Next thinly slice the Persian cucumber crosswise.
• (Optionally) pick pomegranate seeds from fruit and add to bowl.

Assembly

• Mix all ingredients together, add dressing, and adjust seasoning. Adding any additional components that you may desire.
• Add crispy rice, currants/barberries, cucumber, scallion, and sumac pepper dressing. Toss to combine and serve.

Notes

DO AHEAD: Rice can be fried 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

*If you can't handle the thought of legit frying the rice in a pot of oil, you can pan-fry it instead following this approach:

Heat a 12-inch cast iron pan with high sides over medium/medium-high heat. Pour in ~3 tablespoons of avocado oil, enough to just barely cover the bottom of the pan. When the oil starts to sizzle (flick it with a water drop to check), add the cooled cooked brown rice. Let the rice fry in the oil without disturbing it for 1 minute. Gently flip the rice in large sections using a spatula and again, let fry for 1 minute without stirring. Start to stir the rice, cooking until golden brown all over. Using a fine-mesh sieve, transfer crispy rice to paper towels to drain; season with salt and fresh cracked paper, and let cool.

^barberries are a tiny tart Persian berry that work perfectly with the other flavors in this dish. They are a lot easier to find than they used to be, and you can always order them online, but dried currants are the original Sqirl fruit.