Sprout and brown rice salad...

"Everything But The Kitchen Sink Brown Rice Salad"

I love one pot meals, and if I can get all of my macronutrients in one bite, I'm a happy girl.  That means I stay full for longer periods of time.  It basically boils down to...early planning leads to less thinking when I'm hungry.  I like to eat efficiently, and although I LOVE food and I indulge in the tastes, I also want to feel like I can be productive after I eat and have the energy from the food to be active.  It's a finer balance than you think.  Get more veggies and less protein, then I'm hungry in 2 hours.  Get too much protein and good fats, and I have to take a rest before I get out.  This might not be true for everyone's systems, but it is for mine, and more often than not I have to become a scientist when I cook (or un-cook).  But it's all fun, and in the end, if I can come up with something that's light but filling, healthy but tasty, then I'm a happy girl.


I was starving one day and had to eat pronto, and I had a bunch of leftover grain plus fresh produce.  I decided to take a stab at a spin on an old favorite, which just means a cold rice and bean salad with dressing.  This has the fiber, the protein, the grain, the veggie, and the avocado marks the fruit....I can't go wrong with this complete meal.  Here's a few additions, and you can certainly make it your own by adding just about anything. 

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cup pinto beans, cooked fresh or canned (rinse first)

1/4 cup minced red onion

1/2 cup cubed seedless cucumber

1/2 cup chopped sweet pea shoots 

(or any other kind of stalky sprout - it should have a bite to it)

1/4 to 1/2 chopped small jalapeno, no seeds, depending on your taste

1/2 avocado cubed

2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

a squirt of dijon or whiskey mustard 

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice and mustard together, season with salt and pepper, and mix well into a dressing.  Add the dressing to the salad and mix well.  Add the avocado and mix well again, but to the desired consistency. (If you get a very ripe avocado, mixing it might mush the avocado, which in a way adds creaminess to the dressing, and I love it.  If you want to be able to bite into the avocado chunks, then mix sparingly).  

Enjoy!