The holiday season is a time for gathering, sharing and celebrating.
We get together as families and friend groups at the darkest time of the year to feast on the fat of the year, celebrate our spirituality and to give to others. It can be a magical time of the year.
We can also enter the New Year feeling pounds heavier and as if we have not moved off the sofa for weeks on end. The holiday party and celebration season can cause us to feel as if our boundaries are being broken by an avalanche of sugar cookies and our highest goals for our very best health are thrown in the trash with the wrapping paper!
It is always helpful to enter into the party season with a strategy. The strategy I love most is not of going without, diet or restriction but of sharing and giving and the gifting of foods and recipes that help to shore up my health goals and which can create a balanced choice on even the most sugar laden buffet table.
I have been making this Asian Style Brown Rice Salad for decades a recipe which came out of a small book produced by Sainsburys supermarket in the UK in the early 80’s. It is a recipe that was ahead of its time
I have shared this recipe more than any other I routinely make; emailed after a gorgeous event, on the back of an envelope or hurriedly scrawled on a scrap of paper at a party. I can make this salad off by heart!
Brown rice is full of fibre to help us feel satiated and to feed all of the healthy gut bugs in our microbiome who help us to feel energized, happy and lean. You can read more about the role of the microbiome in helping us to release weight here.
Packed with nutrition, the B-vitamin-group-rich wholegrain rice is studded with nuts and seeds making this salad dense in minerals.
I made the salad in the photo with both wholegrain and black rice to up the antioxidant content of the grain and give celebratory visual impact!
The pumpkin seeds provide zinc to boost immunity, support healthy tissues and provide nutrition to the thyroid gland, whilst cashews are rich in our relaxation mineral magnesium and contain heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
Vitamin C for immunity is often on our minds in the Winter months for its role in boosting immunity. This salad packs a punch of vitamin C in the chopped red pepper and big handful of chopped parsley; such a gorgeous cleansing and iron rich herb.
Dried cranberries or raisins make this salad festive but it is the garlic and ginger rich dressing that make this bowlful of goodness so special. Adding the dressing whilst the rice is warm ensures that every bit has a spicy gingery/salty warmth to it. Delicious!
Make it, share with others and consider going to the party with the recipe in your pocket on a scrap of paper, because people are going to be looking for the deets from you!
Asian Style Brown Rice Salad
Serves 8
Ingredients
For the Salad
2 cups brown basmati rice cooked (this takes 35-40 minutes in my rice cooker)
4 green onions chopped finely
1 large red pepper diced
1/2 cup raisins or cranberries
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 bunch parsley or cilantro finely chopped
For the Dressing
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
11/2 tbsp tamari soya sauce
1/2 lemon juiced
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 cm fresh ginger grated
Instructions
Cook the rice to the instructions on the packet. I like to use my rice cooker.
Meanwhile chop the vegetables and herbs and add them to the nuts and raisins in a large bowl
Make the dressing in an old jam jar and shake thoroughly
When rice is cooked add to the other ingredients and pour over the dressing while warm. Mix thoroughly with your hands or a large spoon.
Consider making double quantities of the dressing to use later on grated carrot or zucchini or lettuce salad during the week. This salad should keep for a week in refrigerator.