Healthy brown rice salad with lemon – tahini dressing

This brown rice salad is ideal either as a healthy side or as a light lunch. The lemon – tahini dressing enhances the detoxifying properties and adds a delicious zing

Are you searching for an easy and healthy dish to help you get through the week? This brown rice salad with lemon – tahini dressing can be a tasty side or a light lunch that will keep you saturated until dinner. I like to make a large batch, enough for 2-3 days (I just keep it refrigerated all the time) and combine it with fish, chicken, lentils, or tofu (for when I want a vegan meal) just to add some extra protein and to make it more satiating.

Vegetables are generally considered to have a detoxifying effect on our body, mostly due to their alkaline character. Also, the brown rice in this salad has more fiber and nutrients than regular rice, the cucumber has a mild diuretic action and helps to soothe constipation, the parsley, the lemon juice, and the peppers are all foods rich in vitamin C, antioxidants and other phytonutrients, while tahini provides healthy fats, amino acids, and some plant-based protein.

Some more healthy, plant-based recipes I think you’re going to love is this hearty, one-pot  Greek brown lentils (Fakes) and this mayo-less potato and avocado salad

Can I use something else instead of brown rice?

Of course! Buckwheat and quinoa are great (and gluten-free) options for this salad. Regular, white rice or basmati will also work, though the fiber content will be less. Also, barley and bulgur or pearl wheat will also work, though they may take longer to cook.

Some notes/tips:

• This recipe uses parboiled brown rice since it’s easy and quick to prepare.
• Add some ground turmeric to the lemon – tahini dressing for more health benefits and a nice color.
• Ground cumin can lose its power when stored for a long time. If your cumin is not very fresh you may have to increase the quantity to 1 teaspoon.
• You can peel the cucumber or use it with the flesh

You may like these similar recipes:

Mediterranean skillet gnocchi with white beans & spinach

Tuscan Style White Beans

And a light dessert: Low fat yogurt panna cotta

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Healthy brown rice salad with lemon – tahini dressing

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

This brown rice salad is ideal either as a healthy side or as light lunch. The lemon – tahini dressing enhances the detoxifying properties and adds a delicious zing

Course: Lunch, Salad, Side

Cuisine: gluten-free, Healthy, Mediterranean, vegan

Keyword: brown, detox, healthy, rice, salad

Servings: 4

Calories: 387 kcal

Author: The Hungry Bites

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 1 1/2 cups (250 grams) parboiled brown rice
• 2 persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber, chopped
• 1-2 green onions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup pitted sliced olives, optional

For the lemon – tahini dressing:

• 1/3 cup tahini (80 grams)
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2-3 tablespoons water
• Freshly grated pepper and salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Instructions

1. Cook the brown rice according to the directions of the packadging.
2. Make the salad: Transfer the cooked rice and the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix to combine.
3. Make the dressing: Transfer the tahini, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water to a bowl or jar and mix with a fork until creamy. Add the salt, the pepper, and the cumin. Taste and add more lemon juice according to your liking (because the dressing will be mixed with the salad, when you taste it plain it should be a bit more intense than you like). Add 1-2 tablespoons more water to achieve a pourable consistency.
4. Pour the dressing over the rice salad and serve. Eat!

Recipe Notes

Ground cumin can lose its power when stored for a long time. If your cumin is not very fresh you may have to increase the quantity to 1 teaspoon.

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