Healthy & Delicious Brown Rice Salad

Every now and then, I like to share a favorite recipe.  I'm not a food blog, and I've shared before that cooking really isn't my passion.  I cook just about every day though.  We rarely go out to eat because on a single income, we really watch the budget, but it's also because we keep to a pretty strict, "healthy" diet.  We juice a few times a day and try to buy "whole" foods without spending our whole paycheck.


Healthy eating doesn't have to cost a fortune and it can be pretty tasty, if you know what to do.  I make a big batch of brown rice and quinoa every week for my husband's lunches.  To keep it from getting boring, I fancy it up a bit.  Here's a great brown rice salad that my husband calls AMAZING.  His words not mine. 



Brown Rice Salad:
2 cups of cooked brown rice
3 medium green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro
 Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette (directions below)

Rice Directions:  Cook about 1 cup of brown rice in 2 cups of water.  I add water throughout the cooking process which takes about 45 minutes in my high altitude.  Warning: Brown rice takes much longer to cook than white rice. Be patient.  For tastier brown rice, you can buy Basmati or Jasmine brown rice.  Both are delicious plain.  For this recipe, I used plain brown rice.

I prepare the vinaigrette next.

Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice (just squeeze the lemon)
Salt and pepper to taste (I added a little more than a 1/2 teaspoon salt & 1/4 teaspoon pepper)
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped (my husband likes garlic)

Mix all ingredients.



 I let the vinaigrette "mingle" for as long as I can.


 Next, just chop up your onions, red bell pepper, and cilantro. I used just half of my bell pepper since it was pretty mega.



I buy non-marinated "quartered" artichokes in the can and cut them into bite size pieces.

Mix all your ingredients with the rice and add some parsley.  I only had dried parsley and eyeballed it.  Next, add the vinaigrette, toss the salad and refrigerate it for 2 hours.  Overnight is even better.

They are going to LOVE this!
 You can also make this mixing 1 cup of brown rice with 1 cup of quinoa.  I also make it with avocados when I can.  Add ingredients you like and take out the ones you don't.  As is, it's pretty AMAZING.

 Enjoy!

Blessings,
Lisa

I link all my projects with some wonderful blogs.  To visit them, go to the {Link Party Love} page found at the top of this page on the {Home} bar.
Also linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
Savvy Southern Style

No Minimalist Here
The Shabby Creek Cottage

Miss Mustard Seed

Funky Junk Interiors
Coastal Charm 


Fluster Buster

Comments

  1. Ok, I'll have some please, this looks and sounds so good. I will definitely make this one. Thanks for the recipe and thanks for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, this looks delicious and so healthy. I can't wait to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks so yummy. I love those whole food salads! We would love to have you link this up to our new All Things Thursday Blog Hop. Hope to see you there!
    Blessings,
    Nici

    ReplyDelete

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