Wild Rice Salad with Dried Fruit and Arugula

Since we are eating healthier with our bowls and we seem to be turning over a new leaf, I jumped at the chance to request Eat Beautiful by Wendy  Rowe for my latest Blogging for Books post.

Rowe is a makeup artist to the stars (in fact the forward is by Sienna Miller) and she is a “big believer in nurturing not only the outer skin, but also what lies beneath—our organs and intestines.”

The first part of the book, “Beauty and Food,” discusses the importance of everything from Good Digestion to Intermittent Fasting.  Along with the narrative are tips like how to battle indigestion by chewing anise, cardamom and fennel seeds and how to “mindfully” eat—sit at a table; don’t get distracted with phone calls; chew each morsel 40 times.  Rowe also lists “Beauty betrayers” (refined sugar, white bread, fizzy drinks, etc.) and “Food Saviors” (fresh produce, water, etc.).

Foods are listed by the season in alphabetical order with descriptions of their beauty value and use.  Then come the recipes utilizing lots of leafy greens, fresh fruit, and whole grains.   This is not a vegetarian book and there are lots of recipes for fish and chicken.   I would say the bulk of the recipes are salads; however, dessert is not ignored.

Since we are on the 2017 Challenge and eating a lot of whole grains, I found many recipes to choose from.  Here is just a sample:

• Baked Eggplant with Quinoa (64)
• Quinoa with Pesto Chicken (68)
• Pomegranate Spring Salad with Quinoa (74)
• Wild Rice Salad (106)
• Brown Stew Chicken with Black-Eyed Pea Rice (122)
• Brown Rice and Vegetable Pilaf (172)

I had to make that Wild Rice Salad (even though it was listed as one of the Summer dishes).

Wild Rice Salad with Dried Fruit and Arugula
from Eat Beautiful

1/2 c. wild rice
1/2 c. brown rice
1 T. pistachios
juice of 1/2 lemon (1-1 1/2 T.)*
handful of fresh mint, roughly chopped
handful of arugula, roughly chopped
1/2 garlic clove, minced*
2 handfuls of dried fruit such as raisins, goji berries dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots
1 t. extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper.

Prepare each rice according to package instructions.  Set aside to cool.

Toast the pistachios in a small skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently so that they don’t burn.  Remove and lightly crush.

Place the rice in a serving bowl, add the lemon juice, mint, arugula, garlic and dried fruit, and toss to combine.

Drizzle with olive oil, then season and sprinkle the toasted nuts over the top.

*This is Rowe’s recipe pretty much verbatim, but when I made the recipe for us, I used a whole garlic clove and 3 T. of lemon juice.   I also bought pre-roasted pistachios so I skipped the toasting step.  The photo of this salad in the book is beautiful and it looks like both golden raisins and goji berries were used.

Here is the original photograph from Eat Beautiful:

photo credit:   Eat Beautiful

I decided to follow suit and used organic goji berries and “jumbo” crimson raisins.  Here is the photograph of my dish:

Eliot’s Eats version

In my opinion, the extra lemon juice and garlic is much needed.  This salad was a welcome change to all the rice bowls we have been eating.  This Eat Beautiful recipe may be my new favorite.   It actually gets better the longer it sets.  This salad can be made ahead; simply mix the rice, lemon juice, garlic and dried fruit.  Then, add the arugula and the pistachios right before serving.  If packing this for lunches, just put the arugula and pistachios in separate compartments and mix it all up before eating.

Lunch at my desk. Leftovers are delicious!

One more thing about Rowe’s recipes.  A lot of them serve two.  That is the perfect amount for us as we make our bowls and limit portions.

This book is perfect for anyone who wants to eat healthier.  We are going to give Eat Beautiful to our Goddaughter for her birthday.  She has already started some healthy eating habits and I want to help influence her in that continued direction.

I received a complimentary book from Blogging for Books for this review.  All opinions, exclamations, gushings and rants are my own.

For my other Blogging for Books reviews, click here.

 
Sharing this with Deb’s Souper Sunday at Kahakai Kitchen.