Southwestern Rice Salad

By melissawelch

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups water
• 2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 3/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 (16 oz) pkg frozen corn, thawed
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 medium plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup salted peanuts
• 1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Preparation

Step 1

in a large saucepan, bring water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove form the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes or until rice is tender. Rinse rice with cold water and drain. Place in a large bowl.

In a small skillet, saute the green pepper, onion, carrot and garlic in oil until crisp-tender. Add to rice. Stir in the corn, beans, tomatoes, peanuts and cilantro

in a small bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, cayenne and cumin. Pour over rice mixture and stir to coat. Cove and refrigerate