The flavors of this salad are created with juicy grapes, crunchy celery, green apple, and lots of other goodness. Instead of a mayo- and oil-rich dressing, I made a creamy cashew curry dressing by blending soaked cashews, filtered water, curry powder, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, pure maple syrup, and sea salt. The result is a flavorful, velvety, spicy-sweet dressing with a swoon-worthy pale golden hue.
That warm, perfectly chewy black rice is tossed with halved red grapes, diced green apple, thinly sliced celery, scallions, raisins, and cilantro before being coated in the creamy curried cashew dressing. The result is a salad that is savory, sweet, subtly spicy, crunchy, juicy, nutty, chewy, and altogether wonderful. Can you tell I’m a bit obsessed? 
If you’re making it for a crowd, I recommend reserving some of the dressing, grapes, scallions, and raisins to drizzle/garnish the salad with as it’s not exactly the most pleasing salad to look at once it’s tossed. Other than that, it’s as golden as its dressing.
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Black Rice Salad with Curry Dressing
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
Description
Chewy black rice is tossed with grapes, green apple, celery, scallions, raisins, and cilantro before being coated in a creamy curry cashew dressing. The result is savory, sweet, spicy, crunchy, nutty and altogether wonderful.
Ingredients
Black Rice Salad
- 1 cup (240 ml) short-grain black rice
- 1 3/4 cups (420 ml) water
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 large celery stalks, ends trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) red seedless grapes, halved
- 1 medium green apple, cored, diced, and spritzed with the juice of 1/2 lemon to prevent browning
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) seedless raisins
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)
Creamy Curry Cashew Dressing
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours, drained
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) filtered water
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 scant tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 1/2 tsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Pour the black rice into a sieve or colander and thoroughly rinse until the water runs clear.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the black rice and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until the rice is tender and most of the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes, covered. Fluff with a fork.
- Meanwhile, make the creamy curry cashew dressing. Add the soaked cashews, water, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, curry powder, maple syrup, and sea salt sea salt to a high-speed blender. Blend on high until completely smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- Transfer the rice to a large serving bowl. Add the scallions, celery, grapes, green apple, raisins, and cilantro (if using). Stir to combine.
- Pour the creamy cashew curry dressing over the salad and toss to coat. At first, it will seem like there is too much dressing, but the salad will continue to absorb it as it rests.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
- If you’re serving this to a group and want to jazz up the presentation, reserve approximately ? cup of dressing.
- Then, transfer the salad to a large serving bowl, drizzle the dressing over top, and add an additional sprinkling of raisins, halved red grapes, cilantro, and scallions.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Side, Salad
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 290
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do the cashews need to be soaked before making the dressing?
Soaking the ½ cup of cashews in water for at least 2 hours softens them so they blend completely smooth in a high-speed blender, giving the curry dressing its creamy, velvety texture without any dairy or oil.
The salad looks dark and messy once tossed — any tips for serving it to guests?
The article addresses this directly: reserve about ¼ cup of dressing, plus extra raisins, halved red grapes, cilantro, and scallions. Transfer the tossed salad to a serving bowl, drizzle the reserved dressing over the top, and add the reserved garnishes for a more attractive presentation.
The dressing seems like too much — should I use all of it?
Yes — step 5 notes that at first it will seem like there’s too much dressing, but the black rice and the other salad components continue to absorb it as the salad rests. Toss everything together and let it sit before judging the amount.
Why does the recipe spritz the diced green apple with lemon juice?
The lemon juice prevents the apple from browning through oxidation — the recipe specifically calls for squeezing the juice of half a lemon over the diced apple immediately after cutting it.
