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Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad [gluten-free + vegan option]

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You’ll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy…this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad | You'll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy...this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

One of my all time favorite restaurants in Buffalo is a little hole in the wall place that has finally gained so notoriety after years of putting out AMAZING dishes. It’s even recently gotten a makeover and won a bunch of foodie awards! It’s so nice to see a place that I love being recognized for its epic deliciousness.

This restaurant is called Sun. I’ve mentioned it on the blog a few times before, but I’ll give you some more details about what makes it so unique. They specialize in four types of cuisine: Vietnamese, Burmese, Chinese, and Thai. They have their own black rice bar, with special dishes made with the antioxidant-rich black rice. And they are one of the few restaurants that I’ve ever seen KABOCHA served in. So you know they’ve won my heart by that fact alone.

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad | You'll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy...this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

One of my all time favorite dishes there (aside from their black rice sushi, tuna-melon pieces, and pumpkin curry served IN A KABOCHA squash!) is their signature Black Rice Mango Salad. The flavors and texture in this dish are out of this world. Sweet and savory, creamy and crunchy…all at the same time.

I’ve been wanting to recreate this recipe for forever and I finally did it!

Here’s the recipe…

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad | You'll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy...this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

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Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad

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★★★★★

5 from 7 reviews
  • Author: Kaila Proulx
  • Prep Time: 90 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
  • Yield: 4 side servings 1x
  • Category: Sides

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup uncooked black rice
  • 1 small ripe mango (or 1 can of mango), cubed
  • 1 ripe avocado, diced
  • 1/2 of a red pepper, finely diced
  • 1/4 cup red onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp red chili paste
  • 2 tsp Bragg’s liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
  • 2 tsp brown rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey (or agave nectar as a vegan alternative)
  • 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
  • toasted peanuts and cashews
  • cilantro and fresh squeezed lime juice, for topping

Instructions

  1. Cook rice according to directions. In a saute pan, heat sesame oil over low heat. Add sesame seeds, garlic, spices, vinegar, aminos, honey, and chili paste. Saute until garlic is cooked through. Add rice and saute until garlic and sauce is evenly distributed throughout it. Place rice in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
  2. While rice is cooling, toast peanuts and cashews in the skillet until slightly browned.
  3. Remove rice from refrigerator. Add avocado, mango, red onion, and red pepper to the bowl. Stir to evenly combine. Divide the salad among four (or two) plates. Top with cilantro leaves, a squeeze of lime juice, and a sprinkle with toasted nuts and sesame seeds.

 

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad | You'll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy...this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

So how’d I do with my REMAKE of my favorite restaurant dish? Well, to be honest, this salad comes pretty darn close to the original! It tastes a little different as I don’t know the secret formulation of sauces and spices they use. But this salad has a flavor profile all its own thanks to the combination of ingredients I used.

This dish is great for a hearty side to bring to accompany any meal! The textures and tastes throughout are to die for. The creamy avocado chunks, the crunchy nuts, the crisp mango, chewy rice, and the rich sesame make for an amazing experience as you eat this. As someone who enjoys a lot of different textures and flavors mixed together, this was like heaven in my mouth. Not only is this dish delicious, however, it’s also BURSTING with nutrition! Black rice is the ultimate superfood. If you haven’t ever had it before, get on that! Here are just some of its awesome benefits…

  • low in fat, rich in fiber, full of protein
  • black rice bran is rich in phytochemicals
  • healthy source of iron and vitamin E
  • black rice contains anthocyanins, the purple and dark red pigments that color and add valuable nutrients to blueberries, grapes, blackberries, dark cherries, raspberries and acai berries…these antioxidants are associated with health benefits, such as memory improvement and decreased risk of heart disease and cancer
  • anti-inflammatory properties

Plus, it tastes really good! So nutty compared with white rice or regular brown.

Let me know if you try this KILLER rice salad out! I am so excited about how good it turned out. 🙂

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad | You'll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy...this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad #vegan #glutenfree

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Are you a rice fan? What’s your favorite kind?

Have you ever recreated a recipe from a restaurant?

What’s your favorite way to use sesame oil?

 
 
 
 
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89 responses to “Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad [gluten-free + vegan option]”

  1. This looks amazing! 😀 I love rice! Brown rice + sushi rice is probably my favorite…unless you throw a mango with sticky rice my way. :]

    Reply

  4. What an amazing restaurant! I am so jealous, I love going to places like that. how impressive you were able to make your own version, and thank you so much for sharing it with us for meatless monday, it sounds delicious!!! I have cooked with black rice once, but I still have some left…..may be time to pull it out 🙂

    Reply

  10. I love this!! We are huge rice fans, well my oldest daughter especially and there are so many rices there is no way she could try them all in her lifetime but she is trying as many as she can. When we go to places like Whole Foods with rice in bulk she picks up different ones to try.

    Reply

  12. Wow does this look great! I have never heard of black rice before, I love the deep color and the rich look of the dish! I would love for you to share this at my new link party Making Memories Mondays happening now! 🙂
    Cathy

    Reply

  13. 1. I AM DROOLING OVER THE RICE, I do not even like rice hat much, but THIS looks exquisitive!
    2. HOW did I live in Buffalo for alms a year and a half and never frequent sun! I used to love Merge!

    Reply

  17. Yum! I love salads with mango and avocado, and the black rice would just top it off! Need to make this…just need to get some black rice (it’s so expensive…sad face…).

    Reply

  20. I love mangoes – they always add a great zesty taste to any dish. This sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pnned & twitted~!

    Reply

  22. This salad makes me think of spring! It sounds so light and refreshing, yet packed full of protein. I hope to visit the restaurant Sun, but in the meantime, I’ll just make this salad =)
    Thanks for sharing this over at Healthy Vegan Fridays! I am pinning this to our Pinterest Board. Hope to see you again this Friday!

    Reply

  23. This sounds so delicious, Kaila! Thanks so much for sharing it at Savoring Saturdays – I’m going to feature it this weekend!

    Reply

  39. We will love this salad! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Come to next weeks Thanksgiving party on Tuesday at 8:00 am, CST, see you then!
    Miz Helen

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  43. All of my favorite things in one bowl! Looks yummy! I’ll be featuring your recipe at Best of the Weekend on Friday night! Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  46. This is forbidden black rice mango salad so Instagrammable and adorable! I finally got to make this salad this past weekend and it was such a hit!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  50. Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday,484. Come back to see us real soon!
    Miz Helen

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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