Jason and I are starting to get deeper into our training for the Triple Bypass. So, we’re definitely focusing our nutrition on eating to training, not training to eat. Looking for something to whip up for lunch that would aid in recovery from our Saturday morning 35-mile ride so we’d be good for our Sunday morning 65-mile ride, I looked in the fridge for inspiration. I found a cup of leftover brown rice pilaf that I had made the night before. HMMM. What if I added some protein and veggies to make a quick salad? Turns out, it worked . . . and it tasted good. Perfect post-workout meal. You could think of this as a souped up tuna salad since there’s actually a lot more tuna and veggies than rice.
LEFTOVER RICE SALAD
1 – 1 ½ cups of leftover brown rice
7 ounce can of tuna, drained
2 – 3 chopped carrots
¼ cup minced parsley
¼ cup feta cheese
½ cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
¼ cup chopped red onion
2 – 3 tablespoons Mediterranean roasted tomato and olive tapenade (I got mine at Coscto)
Salt and pepper
¼ cup olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Head of romaine lettuce (or greens of your choice)
Mix everything from the rice through the tapenade together in a bowl. Add enough olive oil to coat the salad to your liking. Add the lemon juice. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve on top of chopped romaine lettuce or greens of your choice. Makes 2 servings.
OPTIONS: You could add hard-boiled eggs or cooked beans to your salad for additional protein, or in place of the tuna.
Here’s the original rice I made, just in case you are interested.
BASIC RICE PILAF
1 cup of jasmine brown rice
2 cups of chicken stock (you could use veggie stock)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic (I was lazy, so used the dried stuff from Penzey’s)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
About ¼ cup slivered almonds
3 green onions, sliced
Heat some olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Sauté the rice for a few minutes until golden brown. Add the minced garlic and give it a quick stir. Pour in the broth. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook covered on low for about 50 minutes.
Remove from heat, add pepper to taste. Stir in almonds and green onions.
Recipe makes 2 cups of rice. For us, this makes four ½ cup servings.