Black rice is the new brown and my family is officially converted to black rice. The benefits of black rice are endless and I blogged about it here but if you missed here is the scoop. Like brown rice, black rice is full of antioxidants, which is found in the outer layer that gets removed during the milling process to make white rice. But only black-rice contains the antioxidants known as anthocyanins, (also found in blueberries, grapes, and acai) that have been linked to a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, improvements in memory, and other health benefits.
I was really surprise when my 8-year-old picky eater chose black rice over brown rice today. I’m pretty sure that she would’ve chosen white rice if it was an option, but black rice was her choice…and ‘that’ made my day!
I put this lovely salad together with the leftover black rice for hubs and me. It was delicious and it took less than 10 minutes to make.
The deal: Sprouts has Lotus Organic Black Forbidden Rice for $3.99 (15oz bag) this week, which it’s definitely a great price!
Arugula and Grape Salad with Black Forbidden Rice and Bluecheese
Ingredients
- For the Salad:
- 7 oz bag of wild arugula I used Trader Joe’s Organic Wild Arugula
- 1/2 cup of green or red grapes cut in halves
- 1/2 cup of steamed black rice I used Lotus-Org Forbidden Black Rice
- 1/4 cup of blue cheese feta cheese and goat cheese works too
- 1/8 cup chopped walnuts
- For the Vinaigrette
- 1/8 cup minced onion or shallot
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon of liquid aminos or ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 orange squeezed
Instructions
- Combine salad ingredients. Mix the vinaigrette ingredients well and drizzle over salad. Toss salad to coat. Add fresh cracked black pepper to taste.