Forbidden Black Rice Salad

Ingredients

8 cups water
2 (15 ounce) packages black rice (such as Lotus® forbidden rice)

Dressing:
1 ½ cups rice vinegar
¾ cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
⅓ cup sesame oil
⅓ cup mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
¼ cup sriracha sauce
3 tablespoons agave nectar

Salad:
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup roasted unsalted cashews
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
½ cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons chopped Thai basil
2 tablespoons chopped purple basil
1 jalapeno pepper, minced

Directions

Bring water and rice to a boil in a pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Transfer rice to a large bowl, fluff with a fork, and cool until just warm.

Whisk rice vinegar, tamari, sesame oil, mirin, sriracha sauce, and agave nectar together in a bowl until dressing is smooth. Pour dressing over cooled rice; stir.

Stir carrots, cashews, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper, scallions, Thai basil, purple basil, and jalapeno into rice until evenly distributed.