Lemony kale brown rice

Oh my goodness, these vacation posts are never ending!  We are back now, and I am getting life sorted out. It was a total whirlwind of a weekend to get set up for Monday and now Kyle has already left for a week away on a work trip (back in Hawaii if you can even believe it!).

I am so glad we got things planted before we left because look at what we came home to!!!  Oh my goodness!

Chard chard chard.  Their favorite thing to grow and snack on is definitely chard.

We went shopping first thing Saturday morning because the kitchen was e m p t y thanks to my diligent food cleanout before we left town.

And now I’m pretty excited to be back in the kitchen!

I was trying to replicate a prepared WF salad that I got last month at the bar here.  It’s close enough that I’m happy with it and figured I’d share.

Lemon Kale Brown Rice Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 cups brown rice, cooked (I cooked it in the instant pot with 3 cups of water for 22 minutes)
• 1 bunch kale, shredded
• 2 cups frozen chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta*
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds
• 1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 batch lemon vinaigrette (below)

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic infused olive oil (optional sub for 1 tsp fresh garlic, minced)
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (zest optional)
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Make rice.  While it’s cooking, make the lemon vinaigrette and toast the nuts/seeds (you could do it in a dry pan over heat or in the oven – just keep an eye on them because they go from 0 to burnt fast).

Once the rice is done add the greens to it (when it’s hot so they wilt/thaw and mix in).

Next add the nuts, seeds, and cranberries.  Top with feta before serving.

Enjoy!

I used the instant pot to make this a one pot meal.  You can add everything to the same pot you cooked the rice in and that makes clean up super simple.

Ok, that’s not true I guess, since I made the dressing in this jar.  But that goes straight into the dishwasher after so it doesn’t count right?

And yes, I know you can wash the instant pot insert in the dishwasher but I don’t.

*For a vegan option with the salad, sub out feta for Kite Hill almond ricotta.

Now back to food prep…