3 brown rice salads with lots of protein

Brown rice is also much more nutritious than white rice– By preserving the bran and germ, you retain much more of the minerals, vitamins, and healthy fats of the original cereal.

It is delicious in salads, so we have made it the star of some of the numerous salads included in the healthy weekly menu in this post, a menu full of salads, which is what many times most desires in summer. You can download this week’s healthy menu at the end of this post.

Rice salads: how to make them more complete

A good salad must have as true protagonists the vegetablessomething very simple to apply with brown rice, which combines perfectly with all of them.

As with pasta dishes, rice should not be the predominant ingredient, but one more ingredient. To try to balance our brown rice saladswe will avoid other starchy ingredients such as potatoes, cassava or sweet potato, as well as pasta, since these would fulfill the same function.

The mere fact of choosing brown rice instead of white will already make the salad more complete than usual. Now, if we want our rice salad to be even more complete and rich in protein, we can add a main source of protein:

Peeled hemp seeds, ideal in fresh salads. Cooked legumes such as chickpeas or beans. Tofu or tempeh. Seitan, in the case of being able to consume gluten. Vegetable textured proteins (soy, pea, sunflower). “Chicken” style extruded vegetable protein, usually presented as strips or small pieces.

This last option is made up of less economical products, which may also have a high salt content or, in some cases, be ultra-processed. Therefore, We will prioritize healthy processed foods such as tofu or the legumes themselves can (if we are not going to cook them at home) (as well as hemp seeds.

Peas, mushrooms or peanuts, Despite the fact that they have protein of high biological value, they cannot be considered primary sources. Obviously, the protein they provide is also used, and more in combination with that of the rice, and it also counts. The same if we add any other nuts and seedsanother way to add protein and make the salad more complete.

One last piece of advice. Brown rice takes a lot longer to cook than white rice, so it may be a good idea. make the amount we need beforehand and keep it in the fridge properly, in an airtight container. You will not need to reheat, since these salads are to consume time.

Brown rice salad recipes

We love salads that are different, tasty and full of nutrients! Brown rice gives us an ideal base to make them. I present to you below three very different recipes:

A brown rice salad with fruit. A healthy version of three delicious rice. A simple buddha bowl with very balanced brown rice.

You’ll find all three on this week’s downloadable menu.

1. Brown rice salad with melon

This seasonal salad mixes rice with melon and tempeh. The green leaves can be changed for others that are in season, and the melon for a sweet and non-acid fruit, such as pears or some apple varieties.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

300 g of cooked brown rice 300 g of melon without shell or seeds 300 g of tempeh marinated in soy sauce or tamari 1 handful of rocket 1 handful of lamb’s lettuce 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil Ground black pepper Assorted sprouts

Preparation:

Cut the tempeh into very thin slices. We paint it with oil and bake it until crispy, at about 200ºC for about 10 minutes. We can also do it in the pan. We mix the arugula and the clean lamb’s lettuce and use them as the base of our salad. By layers, we add the rice and the melon cut into cubes. Season with oil and pepper. Finally, we place the already tempered tempeh and the sprouts on top.

2. Brown rice with delicacies

Three delights rice is a fried rice dish that, as eaten in Europe, is not traditional in China. However, we are going to be inspired by this well-known dish.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

400g cooked long variety brown rice 50g cooked peas 1 carrot 1 sweet onion 250g firm tofu 1 teaspoon turmeric ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons soy sauce fresh chives seeds ground black sesame

Preparation:

Prepare the scrambled tofu (we can prepare the rice at the same time if we don’t have it done). We press the tofu so that there is no liquid inside. We crumble it, put it all in a bowl and add the turmeric, pepper and two tablespoons of olive oil, mixing everything well. Brown the tofu in a pan. When it is already well browned, we turn off the heat and let it cool down. Peel and chop the carrot and sweet onion. In a large bowl, place the rice, carrot, onion and peas. Mix the chives with the soy sauce and two tablespoons of olive oil, and dress the mixture with this dressing. When the tofu has already cooled, we mix with the rest. Serve with sesame seeds on top

3. Brown Rice Buddha Bowl

Ingredients for 2 servings:

250g cooked brown rice 250g cooked lentils or chickpeas 1 carrot 1 cucumber ½ onion 1 handful of spinach 1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds 1 handful of cashews or almonds

For the dressing:

½ teaspoon ginger powder 2 tablespoons soy sauce the juice of half a lime hot chili flakes (optional)

Preparation:

We start preparing the dressing, mixing all the ingredients. We clean the spinach and remove the thick stems. Cut it into julienne strips and place the rice and spinach in two bowls. Peel and cut the cucumber and carrot into sticks, although we can also spiralize them. We also cut the already cleaned onion into very thin half moons. We place these ingredients on top of the spinach and rice, separately. We also place the lentils or the cooked chickpeas, better peeled. We dress the salads and serve with the seeds and nuts on top. To enjoy it better, we will mix all the ingredients.

Download today’s healthy weekly menu

The weekly menu that we present here is a menu with many salads, including the three salads with brown rice that you just saw. If you want them lighter, you can reduce those ingredients that are heavier and accompany it with a cold soup or a green smoothie.

remember there is many other cereals that you can use as a base of your salads, that by experimenting you can find delicious combinations and that vegetables must always be the protagonists.