Choose-Your-Grain Salad with Orange & Coriander

This salad is big & hearty – it can be a meal on its own, or served as a satisfying side. It’s also remarkably versatile so you can personalize it to what you have on hand & what flavours you prefer.  I’ve broken the recipe down into three simple parts – the basic zesty salad, where you choose your own grain (I’ve tried variations of millet, brown rice, quinoa), then add veges of your choice, either raw or cooked, and pull it all together with a citrusy dressing.

When it comes to the vegetables, I’ve left plenty of room for you to play with additions to your taste. In the top photo, a brown rice version, I simply used kale, cucumber and sweetcorn. In the photo below, a millet salad, I used a mix of zucchini, green beans & carrot. Leftover vegetables are great thrown in here, as are fresh crunchy raw ones.

A quick vote for millet: it’s one of those gluten free grains that often gets overlooked. It might not be as fancy as quinoa, but it’s way cheaper, and dishes up more protein than brown rice. It’s wonderfully alkalizing, contains minerals & even a few of those elusive B vitamins. Pretty cool, huh? Make sure you get hulled millet – the other stuff is literally birdseed…!

The main salad

½ cup raw/dry brown rice OR ½ cup hulled millet OR ½ cup quinoa

½ -3/4 cup tinned lentils, drained & rinsed

½ cup chopped coriander/cilantro

zest of ½ an orange

½ a large orange, peeled & diced

½ an onion, sliced (red onion always gives a great colour contrast)

The additions

1 – 1 ½ cups of vegetables of your choice, cooked or raw. Slice or dice to suit

¼ cup corn kernels (again, optional)

1 spring onion, chopped

The dressing

Juice of ½ an orange

Juice of ½ a lemon

1 tsp salt, or to taste

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp white vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Start by cooking your grain of choice, as per the packet instructions.

Decide what vege additions you’re using, dice and slice

I usually fry the onion, so give any veges a quick fry at the same time if need be.

To make the dressing, put all ingredients into a jar & shake well.

Assemble all the components in a big bowl and mix well. Rather than pouring the dressing over the lot, I suggest putting it in a jug on the side, so guests can help themselves.