Ever since spring has arrived, the only thing I want to eat is cold food; chia pudding for breakfast, smoothies, juices and of course salad. A typical type of dish I love to eat for lunch.
The salad I made today is a whole grain rice salad, a mix of basmati, red and black rice. Even if it was only for the eye, you will fall in love with this rice mix immediately!
I always like to combine different type of flavours and structures. So a bit of sweet from the apricots, a bit of crunch from the roasted nuts and some freshness from the mint and the citrus dressing. That makes the dish feel as complete, instead of nice but I kind of miss something, but I do not know what. I am sure you know this feeling.
Why whole grain rice? Well, because there are several nutritional benefits compared to white rice.
It contains more fiber, which is important for gut health and digestion, provides long lasting energy and less fluctuation in your blood sugar level. Dietary fiber is a very important component of our daily food intake and in general we eat way to little of it.
Whole grain rice provides lots of manganese, while white rice does not. Manganese is important for the production of energy and the antioxidant function. It also provides you with selenium, which plays an important role in your immune function, the protection of anti oxidants and also the production of the thyroid hormone.
And did you know that about 1/2 a cup of cooked whole grain rice will provide you with approximately 11% of our daily recommended magnesium intake and around 25% of the daily recommended folate intake? Both of which are essential nutrients.
This salad is perfect to make in advance, so excellent for a picknick, a bbq evening or tomorrows lunch!
Ingredients
salad
- 100 gr whole grain rice mix of brown, red and black
- 30 gr almonds
- 30 gr hazelnuts
- 50 gr dried apricots
- 60 gr green onion
- 10 gr flat leave parsley
- 1 sprig fresh mint
- pepper
- salt
dressing
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 0,5 tbsp grain mustard
- 0,5 tsp sumac
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
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boil the rice according to the instructions on the package. Roughly estimate 30 to 45 minutes
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preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celcius fan mode. Roughly chop the nuts and roast them for 15 minutes until amber coloured
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in the mean time make the dressing: juice the orange and lemon, and mix all the ingredients together. season with pepper and salt to your own taste. You want this dressing to provide some freshness
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chop the green onion, parsley and mint. Cut the apricots into small cubes
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when the rice is ready drain and let it cool down a little
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add the other ingredients and mix well. Keep a little bit of the herbs and apricots aside for garnishing. Season the salad to your own taste with pepper and salt
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