Brown Rice Salad

     So let's just talk about salads for one moment. There are so many benefits to eating them: they are high in fiber, contain vitamins such as A, C and K, have calcium and are low in calories. Yay salad! 

     BUT! What about when you're really hungry and those lovely green leaves aren't going to cut it? I mean, let's face it, when I come in from a long surf I never say "I'm so hungry I could eat a whole salad!" No. When I'm hungry after a good workout, I could probably eat a whole salad, a burrito, a smoothie and chips and salsa (and sometimes, I do!). But most times you don't want to eat half your days worth of calories in one sitting, right? Well, I'm here to tell you that the brown rice salad is the answer for this situation, folks! It's half rice bowl, half salad and healthier and more filling than adding croutons. 
     I've actually had something similar to this at a local restaurant and have brought it into my own kitchen by adding brown rice to basically any salad I'm making (and it's so easy because I nearly always have the ingredients to make it).

Necessary Ingredients

brown rice (1 or 2 spoonfuls) 

salad 

and a dressing of your choice

Potential Ingredients 

Whatever's in your fridge that won't be gross!

Sometimes I use...

chickpeas

kidney beans

grated carrots

cherry tomatoes

red onions

toasted sesame seeds

almonds

avocado

corn

jalepeños

baked tofu

asparagus

cheese 

etc., etc....

The great thing about this meal is that you can basically add rice to any salad to bulk it up without adding too many calories! 

This is one of my favorite dressings

Drew's All Natural: Lemon Goddess

as well as the dressing that's on this slaw

What do you think? Have you had this before? We eat it all the time and I thought it was only fair I share the wealth (or health, ha).

Enjoy!