Rice with Tomatoes, Avocado & Black Olives

Also from The Moroccan Collection, this is what I chose to serve with the spicy prawns. I had some cooked basmati rice I wanted to use up, however, so this meant I needed to change things a bit. What I did was cook the onion and garlic in a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil for a few minutes until softened, then I added the cooked rice with two tablespoons of stock (I just happened to have some chicken stock on the hob), and let it slowly heat through, breaking the rice clumps up with the back of a wooden spoon. I decanted the rice into the serving bowl and then continued with the recipe. The tomato I peeled although the recipe only says to deseed it.

This was lovely and light. We had it at room temperature and it was the perfect accompaniment for the prawns.

Rice with Tomatoes, Avocado & Black Olives - Serves 4

4 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 plump garlic cloves, crushed
250g basmati rice
450ml vegetable stock
1 well-flavoured tomato, deseeded and diced
2 spring onions, including some green, chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
50g black olives, pitted
1 small avocado, diced
salt and pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes then add the stock and bring to the boil. Stir the rice then cover the pan and simmer very gently, without lifting the lid, for about 12 minutes until the rice is just tender.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan. Add the tomato, spring onions, parsley and salt and pepper, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the olives and avocado.

Fluff-up the rice with a fork and carefully stir in the tomato mixture. Serve either hot or cold.