Brown Rice Salad

With the right seasonings and a little bacon, brown rice transforms from a plain grain into a savory side dish that's perfect for a weeknight dinner. Note: When you do break your salad out of the chill chest, you'll find it pleasantly chewy but not hard the way refrigerated long-grain (think Chinese takeout) rice would be. That's because as the starch in rice cools, amylose and water come together, creating a structure resembling a crystal, which is why it's hard as a rock. The process of starch retrogradation is reserved when the rice is reheated. When more amylopectin is around, its highly branched, tumbleweed character prevents the molecular alignment necessary for retrogradation to take place, which is why I turn to medium-grain rices for any and all rice applications that are served cold. This recipe first appeared in Season 8 of Good Eats.Photo by Lynne Calamia

• Time: 90 min
• Servings: 4

Source: Alton Brown

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