Brown & Wild Rice Salad

Clients often complain that preparing any meal that requires more work beyond removing a wrapper and throwing a pre-made meal in the oven or microwave is going to add stress and complication to their day.

These are often the same clients who complain of having no energy, lacklustre sex drive and little zest for life. What I tell them, time after time is that you must eat food that energizes you, fires up your metabolism and feeds your cells and eating packaged and processed foods will not do any of that!

That said, I understand that cooking after an eight or nine hour day isn't always an attractive endeavour. My solution: take advantage of leftovers. This strategy works magic for me as I rarely ever spend more than 15 minutes in my kitchen. As much as I love to cook and bake, I much prefer to socialize with my dinner guest or family, rather than be chained to my kitchen counter.

The other night I made brown and wild rice, a dish that takes about 25 minutes and only requires a couple stirs. I served it with fish and a mixed green salad, in other words, an easy, fresh, spring-like dinner. And, as a bonus, I got another meal out of it as the next day I whipped up this little number.

Brown and Wild Rice Salad

Ingredients

1 cup brown and wild rice

2 cups filtered water or organic chicken stock

1-2 tbsp organic butter

Bring rice and water to a boil on your stovetop, reduce heat and let simmer on low for 25-30 minutes with the lid on your pot, add butter when it's almost cooked. Be careful not to overcook rice, it should be slightly chewy, but not crunchy.

1-2 cups mixed greens, I used baby spinach

1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, depending how large they are, you could slice them in half

2 carrots sliced

Bunch of chopped fresh cilantro (to taste)*

1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

2-4 tbsp balsamic vinegar or 1-2 capfuls of apple cider vinegar

Optional: 4 tbsp soft goat cheese

Sea salt and pepper to taste

*If you cringe at the thought of cilantro, then swap it for fresh basil leaves instead.

Method

I suggest you make the rice ahead of time and then you can whip up this salad in a pinch. Simply toss all the ingredients together with the rice in a big bowl, add the olive oil and vinegar and voila! You have an absolutely delicious and nutritious lunch or dinner.

This is a great side dish to bring to a party or family picnic, it's gluten-free and meets the criteria as I mentioned in the beginning of my post, for promoting joyous health! EnJOY.