Believe it or not, the idea for this rice salad was inspired by a Thanksgiving stuffing recipe. Yes, it’s July and I’m looking at and thinking about Thanksgiving recipes. I’m such a weirdo. I simply love the holidays, particularly the food 
This salad, though, is very different from your typical holiday stuffing: it’s a light, cool dish with a citrus-sweet flavor, making it the perfect Summer dish to serve alongside your favorite fish or as a light vegetarian meal.
One thing that I love about this dish is that, although the rice takes a while to cook, you can set a timer and not worry about it for nearly an hour. Once you remove the rice from the heat and begin to let it cool, the preparation of the the remaining ingredients takes no time at all. Before you know it, the dish is done! I just love yummy meals that are healthy and easy to prepare! Not to mention, good food that doesn’t require me to slave over a hot stove during the Summer is always a winner in my book!
I also love anything that I can eat with chop-sticks There’s just something about chop-sticks that makes everything better!
- 1 cup brown rice wild rice blend (I got mine from the bulk food section)
- 2¼ cups filtered water
- juice from one orange
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ⅓ cup Thompson raisins
- ⅓ cup chopped almonds
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced and roughly chopped celery
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice (or half a lemon)
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- ⅛ tsp. powdered stevia (or ½ Tbs. honey)
- zest from one orange (or lemon)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Soak the rice overnight in the fridge (or for at least 8 hours).
- Rinse and drain the rice and set aside. Bring the water and juice from one orange to a boil. Add the rice blend and salt to the water and reduce the heat to low. Cover and allow rice to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Once the rice has reached the desired consistence, remove from heat, drain the excess water (if needed), re-cover and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Uncover the rice, fluff with a fork, and allow the rice to cool to room temperature.
- While the rice is cooling, slice the almonds, celery, and green onion and toss the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add the raisins and rice (when cooled) and mix all ingredients together.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, olive oil, stevia (or honey), and orange (or lemon) zest.
- Pour the dressing over the rice mixture and stir well.
- Serve cold or at room temperature and enjoy!
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