Featured Recipe: Kale, Brown Rice and Butternut Salad
This beautiful and colourful salad is absolutely delicious and perfect for busy weeknights or lunches as many of the components can be cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge. A great way to eat 9 to 5 throughout National Nutrition Month while filling Half Your Plate. To top it off, this recipe uses a lot of ingredients you may already have at home and is full of budget-friendly seasonal produce. Use it as a Half Your Plate inspired side dish or add your favourite protein to make it a full meal on its own!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Brown Rice (or white, basmati, jasmine – whatever you’ve got in the cupboard!)
- Bell Peppers
- Kale (Can’t find kale? Spinach or Swiss Chard work just as well)
- Butternut Squash (Acorn or Buttercup are fine substitutes)
- Gala Apple (If you prefer tart flavour, Granny Smith is a better choice)
- Almonds (Cashews, pecans, or walnuts are also delicious in this)
- Olive Oil
- White Wine Vinegar (Cider, Red Wine, Balsamic and Malt are all great substitutes)
- Dried Basil, Rosemary, Thyme (Italian seasoning works too if that’s what you have on hand)
- Dijon mustard
- Garlic
- Red Pepper Flakes (You can omit these or swap for sriracha or other hot sauce)
We also love adding cremini or portabella mushrooms to this if we have some leftover. They add a nice meatiness to the rice.
Check out how to put this salad together!
Ready in under 30 minutes, you’re going to love how simple it is to make this Half Your Plate dinner! Do you have any great quick meal salads you like to cook on weeknights?
