Avocado Red Rice Salad

Vegan red rice and avocado salad

This recipe was inspired by a Red Rice Salad recipe from Canadian Running magazine, Trail Special August 2011, and altered to fit what I had on hand. According to the magazine, red rice is rich in B vitamins, iron, calcium, and high in anthocyanin, an antioxidant.

It’s a delicious concoction of sweet, salty, fresh, crunchy, and creamy. I hope you try it sometime!
Edit: This was meant as a chilled salad dish, but I found that it’s also SOOO YUMMY served hot with a little drizzle of sesame oil!

Ingredients
salad grain base:
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup uncooked red rice
1 cup vegetable broth (or water to cook grains in)

salad veg base:
120 g cucumber (with peel) – about 1 cup diced
3 stalks of scallions -finely sliced
3 stalks of celery, raw (200g) – about 1 cup diced
120 g carrots, raw – about 1 cup diced
1 medium sized avocado

For pickled radish:
4-5 small radishes (120g)
1/4 cup water
1/4 white vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 clove of smashed garlic

For dressing:
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp lime juice
dash of pepper
2 tsp minced ginger

Directions
Mix the quinoa and red rice and prepare according to package instructions with broth or water; whichever you prefer.

Dice up the radishes. Mix 1/4 cup of water with 1/4 cup vinegar and stir in brown sugar and garlic. Submerge the radishes in the solution and set aside.

Dice up all the veggies and mix together.

Bring quinoa and rice down to room temperature. You can either wait for this to happen, or speed up the process by setting the pot in a bath of ice water.

Drain the radish.

Combine the veggies, the grains, and the remaining ingredients in a large salad bowl and mix well. Serve chilled.
Edit: OR you can heat this up in a non-stick pan and finish with a drizzle of sesame oil!

I used the recipe calculator at SparkRecipes.com to figure out the nutrition info.
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 365.9
Total Fat 9.3 g

• Saturated Fat 1.1 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g
• Monounsaturated Fat 4.6 g

Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 1,268.7 mg
Potassium 738.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 68.6 g

• Dietary Fiber 9.2 g
• Sugars 21.4 g

Protein 8.4 g
Vitamin A 94.2 %
Vitamin B-12 0.1 %
Vitamin B-6 15.0 %
Vitamin C 38.8 %
Vitamin D 0.0 %
Vitamin E 5.2 %
Calcium 7.9 %
Copper 9.0 %
Folate 22.0 %
Iron 19.6 %
Magnesium 9.7 %
Manganese 15.1 %
Niacin 8.8 %
Pantothenic Acid 10.5 %
Phosphorus 31.5 %
Riboflavin 60.6 %
Selenium 2.0 %
Thiamin 7.5 %
Zinc 5.0 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.