Easy Summer Rice Salad
Summer is here and I've been on the hunt for the perfect salad recipe! And guess what? I found it! A delicious shrimp salad with loads of fresh ingredients that will make your taste buds dance with joy.
Note: You can substitute grilled chicken for shrimp and have a totally different salad!
This recipe was adapted from Taste of Home Garlic Shrimp Orzo Salad to make it gluten free and slightly faster to make!
To start, you'll need about a pound of cooked and peeled shrimp…tail on or off…your choice. I cooked the shrimp in white wine and minced garlic and then drained the excess liquid. Chill the shrimp.
Salad
2 packages of quinoa & brown rice (microwave as directed on the package)
Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 yellow, red, or orange bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped peeled cucumber
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Fresh cilantro for garnish
1 large can of sliced ripe olives, drained
Next, cook the quinoa rice and set it aside to cool.
Then, gather some fresh ingredients, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and red, yellow, or orange bell pepper. You can also add in fresh herbs like cilantro to take it up a notch.
Clean and chop all the vegetables.
Mix all the ingredients together and add the dressing.
For the dressing, all you need is olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix it all together in a bowl and voila! You're done. I’ve doubled the dressing recipe for you because the quinoa and rice will soak it up!
Dressing
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper