This is another one of those quick, easy and healthy recipes that I have been making a lot lately. When the weather turns nice all I want to do is enjoy the fresh air. There is something about spring that just makes me happy. This is a simple rice salad made special by the beautiful mahogany colored rice. Here is what I did.
Japonica Rice and Veggie Salad
Serves 5
Ingredients:
1 cup black japonica rice
2 cups water
1 pinch kosher salt
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon oregano
½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
½ cup marinated mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup brined artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
1 cup chickpeas
1 cup cucumber, finely diced
5 servings vegan slicing cheese, cut into bite size chunks
10 cups baby spinach
salt and pepper, as necessary
Directions:
Cook the rice, water and salt according to the package directions. Add the lemon juice, zest and oregano to the rice as it is cooling so that it will absorb the flavors. Once the rice has cooled to room temperature add the remaining ingredients, except the spinach. Stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary. Serve the rice salad on a bed of spinach.
Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving
Calories - 363.21
Calories From Fat (15%) - 52.94
Total Fat - 6.33g
Saturated Fat - 1g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 349.73mg
Potassium - 1071.08mg
Total Carbohydrates - 71.26g
Fiber - 10.41g
Sugar - 4.24g
Protein - 11.7g
Comments:
I made variations of this all summer long. When the weather is beginning to warm I start to crave cold food. This salad has a lot of flavor from the marinated veggies. You can add any veggies you like, these are just the ones I had on hand but they all work. If you are going to add oil to the salad I suggest that you add it at the end when you are serving. This dish has so much flavor the oil is unnecessary, in my opinion.
Unrelated note:
My hubby has decided that we need to go out to dinner tonight to relax. I guess this is his way of saying I need to relax, although he is being more diplomatic about than I would be. So there won’t be a recipe from dinner tonight. I will try to remember to take my camera and get some shots of our meal this evening in case it inspires some recipes at your house.
I need to run and get a few things accomplished before our date. I hope all of you are having a good day too.
Mmmm that looks good. Enjoy your dinner out and RELAX!
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteThanks, we liked it. It was our lunch today too only with more spinach this time.
Dinner will be fun, everyone at the restaurant is so wonderful to us that it is impossible not to have a good time.
I hope you have a great day too!
Alicia
that is so sweet Dan!! you have been swamped lately yes? its good and bad at the same time,lol.
ReplyDeleteLooks good, Alicia. I love rice and artichokes and salads, and, and... well, you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteDan has been swamped lately. But it was nice to have him be able to take today off, even though he will be working from home tomorrow.
We had a great dinner tonight. Ian cooked so of course it was wonderful. The weather was fabulous so we ate outside on the patio.
Blessedmama,
Thanks. I make variations of this all the time. There is nothing like a cold rice and veggie salad. I am with you on the artichokes, love them.
Alicia
Your rice salad looks and sounds amazingly healthy and delicious!!!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried Japonica rice before, it reminds me of black sticky rice I had in Thailand.
p.s. Did you mean "serve the rice salad on a bed of rice" or spinach???
Oraphan,
ReplyDeleteBlack sticky rice? I haven't seen that before. I will need to see if I can find that. I love all different kinds of rice. Forbidden rice is another one of my favorites with its beautiful purple color.
Thanks for catching my mistake. I do things like that often but normally catch them before I hit post.
talk to you later,
Alicia