Brown Rice Salad

I was surfing the Real Food in Little Rock blog and stumbled across a fabulous looking recipe that can easily be modified to adhere to the anti-Candida diet.  Now, I haven't made this yet but I'm planning my menu today and this recipe is on it!

Julie has excellent rice cooking tips I'm not including here so be sure to check out her post.  Here is the recipe:

Brown Rice Salad 

• 3-4 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup (or more) diced red onion or shallots
• 1 clove garlic, chopped (optional, but I like garlic!)
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup (or more) dried fruit, like cherries, cranberries or raisins*
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 cup chopped parsley

Make the below vinaigrette and pour over cooled rice:

• 2 T local honey*
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar*
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• couple pinches of red pepper flakes, or a dash of cayenne pepper

Mix everything together, refrigerate, and taste.

*Obviously, the starred ingredients need to be modifed or left out completely.   

• Dried fruit is a no-no and I'm stumped on a substitute (any thoughts?).  
• Honey is also out so I may add a TINY bit of Stevia in place of the honey.  However, hubby is a sweetener snob and refuses to eat anything containing Stevia "because it doesn't taste right (insert whining tone)!"
• Instead of balsamic vinegar I'm going to try lemon juice. 

I'll update once I've tried this recipe and let you know how it turns out with the modifications!!  Have a happy day :)

Lentils and Brown Rice

I wasn't particularly excited about this recipe but it is acceptable and sounded like it would be filling.  I found it in The Everything Organic Cooking for Baby and Toddler Book, which I've relied on heavily for the past month in my meal planning.  There are tons of great recipes that work perfectly as sides on my dinner menu.  

Lentils and Brown Rice

• 1 cup short grain brown rice
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup dried lentils
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 bouillon cube (vegan, chicken or beef)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat, cove pan and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes.
4. Turn off heat, let sit 5 minutes covered, then fluff and serve.

It just dawned on me as I was typing up the recipe that I forgot to include the olive oil, which would explain why it turned out slightly dry (sigh).  I served this with steak and baked sweet potatoes.  It had a slightly sweet taste to it, which I'm assuming came from the carrots.  My hubby and I liked it, although the girls turned their noses up at it.  Oh well!!