Six Week Project: Salads

My dinner on days Twelve and Thirteen both consisted of salads. Day Twelve (Tuesday) was a tossed salad, just to use up some ingredients I'd had laying around (Roasted Red Peppers, Spinach, Carrots, Arugula, Mixed Mesculin, Organic Raisins and homemade honey mustard dressing). It was nothing exciting and therefore will not be getting its own special post.

Day Thirteen (Wednesday) however, was another night of using up ingredients, but was far more exciting and a new Queen Honeybea favorite. I've been consuming a ton of carbohydrates lately. I don't really think there's anything wrong with this, other than it's been mostly in the form of bread or some relative of bread (pasta and pancakes). I decided at work this morning that I wanted to make something with brown rice. I love brown rice, it's so, so good for you, and it's filling and a good way for us carb lovers to consume our beloved starchy goodness. I've also been craving some more lean protein in my diet, and a can of wild caught, sustainable Alaskan salmon did the trick for that. So this is what I concocted over my lunch hour: Queen Honeybea's Brown Rice Salad with Salmon. Enjoy, and always remember to buy local and eat well.


Queen Honeybea's
Brown Rice Salad with Salmon
Serves 2 with a few leftovers

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 TBS. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 a red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 cups of chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 6 oz can of wild caught, sustainable Alaskan salmon, chunked
2 large carrots, shredded
2 TBS. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 TBS. local, raw honey
1/2 tsp. sriracha (Korean hot sauce)
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of garlic powder
Two large hand fulls of shredded mixed mesculin greens
Extra sriacha and soy sauce for serving

1. Cook the brown rice according to the package directions. This should yield about 2 cups of cooked rice. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Saute the onion and red pepper until soft and beginning to brown. Add the garlic, and stir constantly for thirty seconds. Add the shredded spinach, ginger and salmon and cook until the spinach is wilted, about two more minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, toss together the rice, cooked vegetable mixture and the shredded carrots.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sriracha, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour over the warm rice mixture and chill for at least 4 hours, over night would be ideal.

5. Place a handful of lettuce in each of two serving bowls and top with scoops of the rice salad. Serve with extra sriracha and soy sauce.