Autumnal Red Rice Tomato Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

The last time I used the Red Camargue was for a Roasted Butternut Squash and Pepper Salad and then when rediscovered it whilst looking for another grain and thought, why not.  I actually ended up using the red rice for two dishes: as an accompaniment and then with left-overs, I decided to make this salad with it, making the most of our homegrown tomatoes.  

This Red Rice Tomato Salad turned out to reflect the weather outside, autumnal.  The colours of the trees are certainly changing from lush greens to handsome shades of brown: sepia, ochre russet, terracotta, tawny and gold.

I don't normally do dishes like this for the two of us, unless I have guests, as its one to impress as its quite colourful and pretty .  Its also a little fussy and involves lots of little ingredients to build the Salad, but once its done, its worth it as it makes you feel kinda special. 

The salad is not just visually pretty, but it packs quite a punch too but in the nicest of ways, so not to offend.  No hot spices in this salad, it is simply enhanced by the natural juices coming from the tomatoes, but also a light dressing of pomegranate finished by a light scattering of Za'atar or Dukkah if you have it, its not essential though as it just adds another layer of texture and flavour.  

Red Camargue Rice Salad

I made this red camargue rice salad last month.  It was my first time cooking and eating red camargue rice. 

I don't know why, but I had expected the red camargue rice to be chewy like brown rice, but it wasn't and was somewhere in between white rice and brown rice.  It did however add texture and faint colour to this very autumnal looking salad. The rice was further enhanced by the flavours of the roasted butternut squash and red peppers, I also threw in some fresh tomatoes.  There was plenty of left over as the quantity I made served 3 - 4, so I took some into work the following day for lunch.