Recipe Hormone balancing brown rice salad
This is an excellent recipe for using up excess brown rice and any extra salad vegetables that you may have in the fridge! You can make a cold salad dish (great for taking to work) or serve hot for a healthy hormone balancing evening meal if you decide to cook the rice from fresh. It is such a flexible dish and makes a filling meal for all members of the family.
Recipe: Hormone balancing brown rice salad
This recipe serves 4 and the total calorie count is 320 for the brown rice plus more depending upon the veggies used. If you are dieting, seeds, nuts and dried fruit will increase the calorie count so keep these to a minimum. Click to read our article on how to balance your hormones naturally through diet.
Ingredients
200g cooked brown or wholegrain rice (when cooking your rice, you can add in a teaspoon of turmeric, cumin, and/or cayenne to bring extra flavour to the rice).
Any finely chopped salad vegetables including:
- Carrot
- Celery
- Pepper – red, green and/or yellow
- Cucumber
- Tomato
- Spinach, rocket or other salad leaves
- Cabbage (red, white or green)
- Onion: spring or red (not too overpowering)
- Herbs: freshly chopped parsley, mint or coriander
- Consider adding toasted sunflower seeds, ground linseed, chia seeds or toasted almonds for extra omega- and hormone balancing boost
Salad Dressing
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
Optional extra: wholegrain mustard, soya sauce. Lime juice can be used instead of lemon juice. Hemp seed or flaxseed oil can be used instead of olive oil.
Method (salad)
Mix the rice together with the salad ingredients. You can also add in some pieces of avocado if you are going to eat immediately.
Mix the dressing in a separate bowl and then pour over the rice mixture. Serve.
Method (hot meal)
While the rice is cooking in a separate pan, cook the vegetables in a wide-bottomed pan, using a little water to prevent sticking. Start with onions, celery and leek, to cook for 8 minutes, until the onion becomes soft. Add in carrot, pepper and maybe some broccoli and continue to cook for another 8 minutes. You can add in dried herbs or spices here (turmeric and cayenne is great for this dish). Combine the rice and the veggies together into one large pan, add in the herbs, some finely shredded spinach, juice from half a lemon and a tablespoon of olive oil, stirring well to combine. Serve.
Tip: You can also make this using only one pan – start by cooking the rice. 20 minutes before it is cooked, add in the onion, leek and celery. Cook for 8 minutes, then add in the other veggies and any dried herbs and spices. Keep the rice simmering on low. When the water has been absorbed, check that the rice is cooked – add more water and continue to cook if necessary. Stir in the fresh herbs, olive oil and nuts or seeds and leave to sit for a minute, then serve and enjoy!
About the author
- Lisa is one of the founders of La Crisalida Retreats. She is an Epidemiologist, therapeutic hatha and yin yoga teacher and also teaches mindfulness meditation. Lisa has studied NLP and hypnosis, as well as nutrition (she designs the menus).
