Black Rice Salad Bowl with Spicy Peanut Dressing

This Black Rice Salad Bowl with Spicy Peanut Dressing makes for a hearty and colorful meal because of its ingredients. It is high in protein, antioxidants and fiber. The black rice is unpolished and unprocessed which makes it a really healthy alternative when you’re eating clean. Plunge into this bowl of happiness!

You can see how we’ve been trying our best to stick to our new year goals. Yesterday was the first time in the new year when we were completely free and with no temptations looming in the future. Or so we thought. We both got ready for what was going to be a detox day. It started well with the Vegan Green Smoothie. And we sailed through lunchtime with this black rice salad bowl drizzled with spicy peanut dressing. We even had a cup of Green Tea in the evening and finished a litre and a half of water. It was all good, till we stepped out to buy groceries. Saw a new food truck parked right outside our lane. Came back armed with a Barbecue Chicken Burger. MAJOR FAIL.

Let’s just pretend that never happened. And get back to this salad. Which is just so so healthy. Full of colorful veggies and protein and antioxidants and fiber – it’s everything you need at the beginning of a new year! Also there is a spicy peanut dressing involved. I normally use peanut butter but I ran out. Because I ate it all up. But that’s not important. Because you have to use the dressing. It’s the BOMB. And perfect because you don’t even need peanut butter. Just peanuts. And it takes only a minute and can be stored. Plus it’s SPICAY! And so lick-able that you may just finish the whole thing before you get to the salad. I think it’s safe to say that I love this salad. Tee hee.

I received a sample of this Heirloom Black Rice from First Agro, along with all the other veggies I ordered.  A little birdie called the internet tells me that this Heirloom Black Rice was once forbidden to the general public and eaten exclusively by the Emperors of China. And now me. With it’s delicious roasted nutty taste, soft texture and beautiful purple color, I can imagine why.

Confession: I didn’t expect the salad bowl to taste so good when I first tried it. But by the second spoonful, Denver and I were looking at each other and shoveling it in. So now you have a hearty salad bowl meal which is really tasty. WIN. WIN.

If you’ve never cooked with black rice, it’s pretty easy to prepare. It’s recommended that you soak the rice before cooking. I didn’t, but it turned out just fine. You just need a 1:2 rice to water ratio. It takes anywhere between 40-50 minutes to cook, and comes together in a sort of glutinous mass which is sticky, earthy and surprisingly delicious. It’s also full of fiber because it’s unpolished and unprocessed and is only 160 calories per serving. So you got yourself a grain which will be your best friend when you are trying to lose some weight, and become your healthier self again.

More Healthy Salads:

• Thai Peanut Mango Quinoa Salad
• Crunchy Chinese Chicken Salad
• Vegan Pasta Salad with Italian Balsamic Dressing
• Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
• Apple Arugula Almond Salad with Orange Dressing