Healthy Brown Rice Salad

On Friday night I made a stirfry with brown rice. For some reason, I always seem to make way too much rice and pasta. This time I had 3 cups of rice left, so I decided that I would use up the leftovers by making a rice salad. The only time I've ever had a rice salad is when my cousin, Linda, brings it to our family reunions. She & I are the only vegetarians in our family, so we always take care of each other with tasty meatless dishes.

Her rice salad is super delicious, but I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so I did a Google search and found inspiration to create my own version.

Healthy Brown Rice Salad
Inspired from recipe by Caroline Mili Artiss

3 c. cooked long grain brown rice
4 green onions, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 c. raw pumpkin (pepita) seeds
1/2 c. raw sunflower seeds
1/4 c. dried cranberries

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp honey
pinch black pepper

Combine the rice, veggies and dried cranberries in a large bowl.

Don't add your seeds until you are ready to serve the salad.

In a smaller bowl, prepare the dressing by adding all of the ingredients and whisking until well blended.
Pour the dressing over the rice mixture.

Refrigerate overnight.

Mix in your seeds when you are ready to serve and enjoy!

This salad is soooo delicious! I brought it for my lunch today and my stomach growled all morning in anticipation. I'm so happy that I have another bowl at home for tomorrow! I love the ginger in the dressing and the seeds give it the perfect amount of crunchiness.

DELICIOUS!!

What are you favourite make-ahead lunches?

I hope you're having a fabulous Monday,

Andrea