Black Rice Salad with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Citrus Vinaigrette

Allison Day

by | Updated: December 4th, 2016

Would you like a side of rice with that? Before you plop a scoopful next to your main course, consider the competition vying for real estate on your plate. When you’ve got savory favorites like sweet potato mash, quinoa pilafs and herbed baked potatoes, does plain rice really measure up? If you’re serving scoops of black rice tossed with roasted Brussels sprouts, crisp celery and a tangy citrus vinaigrette, it definitely deserves a prime spot. Clear room on your plate–you’ll want a generous serving.

Black rice and roasted Brussels sprouts side dish on white plate #sidedishes www.vitacost.com/blog

Black Rice Salad with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Citrus Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Ingredients

½ cup uncooked black rice (forbidden rice)
1 pound Brussels sprouts, tailed and quartered
1 cup diced celery
½ tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. refined avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Dressing

2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. cold-pressed flaxseed oil
¼ cup clementine juice (from 2 clementines) or orange juice
Ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. In a medium-size pan, combine rice and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 40 minutes. When finished, remove from heat and let steam for 5 minutes while still covered.
  2. While rice cooks, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. On a large baking sheet, toss Brussels sprouts with avocado oil and roast for 15-20 minutes until slightly softened.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked rice, celery and salt and toss to combine. Add roasted sprouts and toss to combine.
  5. In a small bowl, combine white wine vinegar, flaxseed oil, juice and pepper. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat.
  6. Serve chilled, warm or at room temperature.
Allison Day

Allison Day is a nutritionist and recipe developer with a passion for creating simple, approachable, fresh and colorful whole food dishes. Her food writing, recipes, food styling and photography and nutrition advice have appeared in print and online publications such as alive, Prevention, Kris Carr, BuzzFeed, MindBodyGreen, BlogHer, The Kitchn, Epicurious, Well+Good NYC as well as on Cityline, Canada's number one daytime show. Clean Wellness is for anyone who wants to make healthy, sustainable and conscious choices about food. Allison’s vegetable-focused creations are created to be pleasing to all dietary preferences—no taste bud is left behind!