By Lee Price on October 11, 2010 in Other

This month we are very lucky to have a guest post from Catherine Noonan of www.iheartscratch.com – a blog dedicated to fabulously delicious and healthy recipes, made from scratch. Catherine loves to show that a dairy-free, gluten-free and sugar-free diet is far from boring.

“As we enter the cooler months, it’s apparent that not only winter but also the peak of the citrus season will soon be upon us. With this in mind, I’m sharing a recipe that utilises the fresh and juicy oranges currently available and is also suitable for the few warm summer-like days we have left,” Catherine said.

“This recipe is for a rice salad and although it may sound old-fashioned, I assure you that this version is anything but.

“To make it healthy, yet as tasty, economical and crowd-pleasing as possible, I have completely manipulated the old-school recipes, eliminating the classic 1960s combination of white-rice, ham and curry powder to make a modern salad that is truly soul warming,” she said.

“With its harmonious blend of flavours and textures, it truly makes for a wonderful, ‘Okay, maybe I’ll have seconds, thirds, fourths…’ kind of a side dish.”

Serving Suggestions
• Best served at room temperature together with steamed green vegetables or a simple green salad, this brown rice salad is the perfect accompaniment to grilled, barbecued or roasted meat.
• Because it’s low fat, without added sugar and uses whole grains, it’s considered to be a wonderfully healthy alternative to the all-too-common barbecue sides such as sour cream-drenched potato salad or white pasta salad.
• The leftovers will make for a wonderfully nourishing next-day lunch with sliced meat or even a boiled egg added.

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Ingredients
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup currants
2 oranges, one juiced and one segmented
1/2 cup flaked almonds
1/3 cup firmly packed parsley leaves
1/3 cup firmly packed coriander leaves
1 tsp Dijon mustard
20mL extra virgin olive oil
An extra handful of flaked almonds, to garnish

Method
1. Rinse the brown rice under cool running water, shake dry and cook according to the package instructions.
2. While the rice is cooking, place the currants in a bowl with the orange juice and set aside.
3. Let the rice cool down until it’s warm rather than hot.
4. While the rice is cooling, strain the currants, reserving the orange juice in a small bowl.
5. To make the dressing, add the Dijon mustard and oil to the reserved orange juice and mix until evenly combined.
6. In a large salad bowl, add all ingredients including the dressing and toss to combine
7. Garnish with flaked almonds before serving.

Have you got a great recipe that you would like to share? Send it through to operationjamjar@y7mail.com and you could see it in a future issue of The Beast. For more recipes and thrifty cooking ideas visit operationjamjar.blogspot.com.