Sesame Free Mediterranean Brown Rice Salad with Tomatoes, Olives & Cucumber
This bright, hearty salad is everything you want from Mediterranean cooking — juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumber, briny Kalamata olives, and nutty brown rice all tossed in a zippy lemon-oregano dressing. The combination of fresh herbs and a cumin-kissed vinaigrette gives every bite a bold, sun-drenched flavor that feels both satisfying and refreshing. For anyone navigating sesame restrictions, this recipe is a genuinely easy win — every ingredient is naturally free of sesame, with no tahini, sesame oil, or hidden seed blends anywhere in sight. Store-bought Mediterranean salads and grain bowls can be a minefield of unexpected sesame additions, so making this at home puts you fully in control. The brown rice adds a wholesome chewiness that holds up beautifully to the dressing, and the whole salad actually improves as it sits, making it ideal for meal prep or packing ahead. A squeeze of extra lemon before serving wakes everything back up if you've had it in the fridge. It's the kind of dish that earns a permanent spot in your weekly rotation.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the rice
- 1 cup long-grain brown rice
- 2 cups water
- ¼ tsp salt
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
For the salad
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 english cucumber, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
- ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the brown rice, water, and 1/4 tsp salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover tightly, and cook until the water is fully absorbed and the rice is tender, about 40–45 minutes.
- 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the rice rest, covered, for 10 minutes, then spread it out in a large mixing bowl and let it cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
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