Tag: salad

A Crunchy Brown Rice Salad recipe

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Hi. This weekend I was able to spend time with treasured friends up at beautiful Peregian Beach on the Queensland Sunshine Coast. The weather was lovely and we had a fabulous couple of days.

It was really great to spend some quality time, relaxing. Life is short and I think that it is essential to take the time to de-stress. It’s even better when you do it by spending time with people who are important to you.

With no research to share this week, I thought I would share another recipe.

I came across this Rice Salad recipe some time ago and adapted it to suit our tastes. I have made it several times for barbeques and parties and it always gets rave reviews.

It is really simple, quite tasty and nutritious.

 Crunchy Rice Salad – serves 4 to 6

3 cups cooked rice, cooled – I like to use a Mountain Blend as it has a nice tasty mix of rice

300 grams of Pumpkin or Sweet Potato (cooked and cut into small pieces)

½ cup chopped Parsley

2 green shallots finely sliced

½ cup finely sliced Snow Peas

½ cup Bean Shoots

1/3 cup toasted Pepitas/Pumpkin seeds

3 tbsp toasted Sunflower seeds

Dressing

1 clove of garlic crushed

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

Method

I like to cut my sweet potato or pumpkin into thick slices and cook them under the grill so it gets a bit of dark caramelisation for added flavour.

While the potato or pumpkin is cooking – put the rice into a large salad and mix the dressing ingredients together in a jug.

Chop the cooked slices into small cubes and put it into the bowl with the rice and other ingredients.

Combine the ingredients gently with a large spoon.

Pour the dressing over the salad and give the salad another mix to incorporate the dressing.

 

This is great as a side dish or you could even have it as a main meal.

Enjoy.

Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

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Super Salad

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Hi,

Today I want to talk about a salad that I purchased for lunch last week.

This may seem strange, but it was a really tasty, though simple salad. It was promoted as a ‘super food’ salad. So I thought I would research why it was so ‘super’.

What was in it?

Rocket leaves,

Baby English Spinach leaves,

Finely chopped Chinese Wong Bok

(or Napa) cabbage,

Pepitas,

Lemon juice dressing.

Now for the ‘Superfood’ part.

It seems that Rocket leaves are a very nutritious salad green. Apart from providing a little ‘peppery burst’ in each mouthful, it is very good for us.

  • Salad rocket is very high in antioxidants.
  • Also it seems that Rocket is a rich source of certain phytochemicals, which may offer protection against various cancers.
  • Fresh salad rocket is one of the greens rich in folates and an excellent source of vitamin A. Studies found that vitamin A and flavonoid compounds in green leafy vegetables help keep humans protected from skin, lung and oral cavity cancers.
  • This vegetable is also an excellent source of the B-complex group of vitamins, which are essential for optimum metabolic functions.
  • and Rocket also contains healthy levels of vitamin-C.

The English spinach is another salad green with health benefits, many similar to Rocket.

  • Spinach is storehouse for many phyto-nutrients that have health promotional and disease prevention properties.
  • The dark green pigments indicate the presence of antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals such as beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin – important for healthy eyes.
  • It is also good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

The Chinese cabbage also has similar health benefits to the other leafy greens. I have chosen to highlight just 2.

  • Napa cabbage is incredibly low in calories. 100 g fresh leaves carry jus 16 calories.
  • Napa is also packed with many antioxidant plant compounds. Scientific studies suggest these compounds are known to offer protection against breast, colon and prostate cancers. They also help reduce bad cholesterol levels in the blood.

Finally, the Pepitas or Pumpkin seeds (I like mine toasted)

  • The kernels are especially rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids that help lower bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol in the blood.
  • Pumpkin seeds carry good-quality protein. In addition, the seeds are an excellent source of amino acid tryptophan and glutamate which helps reduce anxiety and nervous irritability.

The nutrition facts were found on http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/

So, it would seem that the very tasty salad that I bought for lunch, was in fact ‘super’.

I have purchased the same greens and replicated the salad more than once now, it is very easy to make and is still really tasty. This salad also works really well with the addition of crumbled Feta.

Enjoy the week and until the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

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