Brown Rice & Lentil Salad

Happy Sunday! I hope the weekend has been treating you well.

Here is a recipe you can prepare for your work or university lunch box for this upcoming week. It is packed with fiber, protein & is carbilicious.

Brown rice offers multiple health benefits:  

1. It is gluten-free & high in fiber… it can help prevent colon cancer
2. It is rich in anti-oxidants… it plays the big leagues, along with blueberries, goji berries, etc.
3. It is high in manganese… it helps the body synthesize fats
4. It is rich is selenium… which can reduce proneness to certain illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, arthritis, etc.
5. It is a low glycemic index food… it releases sugar slowly into the body, and can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes when consumed on a regular basis
6. It is the star of the macrobiotic diet… which has been shown to also combat many illnesses and help restore health

Ingredients

• ½ cup Brown rice
• 50g Lentils
• 1 Carrot
• ¼ Purple Cabbage
• 1 Cucumber
• Parsley
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• 1 tsp Thyme (optional for lentils)
• 2 Garlic cloves (optional for lentils)
• ¼ Onion (optional for lentils)

Serves: 2 people

Carrot, Cucumber, Cabbage & Parsley Prep time: 10 mins

Brown Rice Cook time: 12mins

Lentils Cook time: 25mins

Total time: 30-40 mins

Tips:

• Cook the lentils & brown rice in two separate pots at the same time
• Once you’ve put our lentils & brown rice to cook, prep your vegetables & garnish
• Make sure you always keep in eye on your pots, to ensure you always have water and that it doesn’t evaporate, burning your meal

For the brown rice,

1. In a pot, on medium heat, add a little bit of olive oil
2. Once the oil is warm, add your ½ cup or 50g of brown rice
3. Mix the rice for 2 minutes in the olive oil to give it more taste
4. Then add 2 cups of cold water
5. Add a pinch of salt
6. Bring to boil
7. Once the water is boiling, make sure your water doesn’t evaporate completely/too quickly and that your rice burns
8. Let it cook for about 10-12 mins for aldente rice
9. Stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pot

For the lentils,

1. In a pot, add 2 cups of cold water, a pinch of salt (+thyme, garlic, and onion for more flavor)
2. Add your lentils
3. Bring to boil
4. One the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low
5. Stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pot
6. Here, also make sure you always have water in your pot so your lentils don’t burn. If the water runs out, simply add ½ cup

For the carrot,

Peel, cut in half, then cut the half into four

Cut into small pieces

For the cucumber,

Cut in half, then cut the half into four

Cut into small pieces

For the purple cabbage

Remove the first/top leaf, which is usually damaged or rough

Cut in four, remove the ‘heart’ part (large white part), and then cut the ¼ finely

For the parsley,

Chop it up, thinly

Dressing

• ½ Lemon juice 
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper

Topping suggestions

• Parsley

Once everything is ready, mix all elements together, add the dressing, the parsley, and indulge.

Hearty, Carblicious, Crunchy

For more nutritional information, please see this link. I am not a certified nutritionist (yet).