While I have grown into liking plain brown rice, it became much more exciting to me when I realized you could jazz it up like pasta. This particular dish I have made at least six times, twice in the last month. The nutty flavors of the rice and walnuts pair so well with the sweetness of the golden raisins and honey, and then are highlighted by the zing of the lemon. Inspired by https://greenvalleykitchen.com, I have found this to be not only a great side dish you can serve cold, but also great when warmed and served as a main dish (we recently added shredded chicken to it for a delicious one-bowl meal). The original recipe calls for asparagus; I’ve made it with asparagus and green beans, but am finding I prefer with neither. Let me know what you think!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Brown Rice, cooked
• 2 cups Baby Spinach, chiffonade
• 1/3 cup Golden Raisins
• 1/3 cup Walnuts, broken-up
• 2 oz + Feta Cheese, diced
• 10 fresh Basil Leaves, chiffonade
• 8 Spears Asparagus or Green Beans, cooked and chopped

Dressing Ingredients

• Fresh Lemon Juice, 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tsp Honey
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 garlic clove, mashed or splash of Garlic Expressions
• Salt & Pepper

Cook the brown rice per instructions and set-aside to cool. If you are using asparagus or green beans, cook to your liking and cut into bite-size pieces. Chop the spinach, basil, walnuts and feta.

In a small bowl, mix together all the dressing ingredients.

Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and then add the dressing. Mix well and season with salt & pepper. Serve cold, room temperature or slightly warmed.