Brown Rice Salad

This salad is great to make in large batches and use for several meals throughout the week. It can be served warm or cold.

Some ideas for using this healthy salad:
- Serve along side a grilled chicken breast, tuna or salmon steak, or lean pork chop, topped with spicy mango salsa.
- Serve on a bed of lettuce for a quick, tasty, hearty lunch
- Stuff into pita pocket or wrap & add crunchy romaine or other greens.
- Make a quick tortilla soup by adding a couple cups to low sodium chicken broth, add diced chicken & baked corn tortilla strips.
- Freeze in portion size containers for any of these uses. (when freezing, don't add avocado to entire batch, add fresh when using)

30 Minutes to Prepare and Cook

8 cups cooked brown rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
3 roma tomatoes, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 mango, diced
2 firm, yet ripe avocados
1/2 red capsicum, diced
1/2 yellow capsicum, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch fresh coriander
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1/4 tsp cumin
sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper
Optional: diced jalepenos

Cook rice in rice cooker, fluff & allow to cool.
Chop all fresh ingredients.
Mix olive oil, teriyaki sauce, garlic & lime juice in small bowl.
Toss all ingredients in large bowl, season with cumin, salt & pepper to taste.

Makes 12 portions

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 12

Nutritional Value Per Serving
Calories: 286.1
Total Fat: 10.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 520.5 mg
Total Carbs: 44.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.6 g
Protein: 6.3 g

Adapted from a recipe submitted by KGBRACKETT on SparkRecipes

Breakfast Smoothies

Tropical Dream Smoothie
200g tub vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped mango
1/4 cup chopped banana
toasted shredded coconut, for sprinkling

Mixed Berry Combo Smoothie
200g tub vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

Spiced Vanilla And Banana Smoothie

200g tub vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup milk
pinch cinnamon
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup banana
extra cinnamon, for sprinkling

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

Pour into 2 tall glasses and serve with a straw.

Choc Banana Protein Shake

I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment and have been keeping my calorie intake down to around 1400 per day as well as exercising and avoiding my beloved white wine.

I've been doing pretty well, sticking to my eating plan, getting exercise a few times a week and the kilos have started to come off. To ensure that I don't hit a plateau I need to ensure that I don't under-eat and go into starvation mode because my body will start burning muscle instead of fat.

So when I'd had my standard breakfast of Forme yoghurt (Peach & Mango today), a toasted cheese sandwich for lunch, some La Zuppa Cauluflower & Pea soup mid afternoon, celery with cheddar cheese spread after my run, and pesto chicken with loads of vegies for dinner and found myself sitting around 1000 calories I decided to make mysef a smoothie.

I've been trying to incorporate more protein and flax seeds into my diet so I came up with this delicious thick & creamy smoothie. I had it all to myself but it really should serve 2 because I'm still struggling to finish it while typing this...

200ml Zymil Lacose-free/Low-fat milk
1 medium banana, sliced
1 tub (175g) Yoplait Forme Yoghurt - French Vanilla
35g sachet Xantrax Diet Shake - Chocolate Fudge
10g flax seeds, ground in a mortar & pestle or coffee grinder

Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse until combined.

Serves 2

Per serve: 229 cal / 956 kj
Total: 458cal / 1913 kj