Happy Accident: Roasted Vegetable and Rice Salad Recipe

Sometimes, amazing things—like penicillin, Viagra, potato chips, and the microwave—are created entirely by accident. As everyone's favourite fuzzy-haired painter, Bob Ross, says, "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents." That may or may not be a completely true statement, but this dish, full of gorgeous roasted vegetables and zestiness, was created by accident, and it was indeed a happy one.

One afternoon, I was preparing to stir up some lemon juice and tahini, with the intention to make my favourite kale chips, when I discovered that I was actually out of kale. Disaster! But I did have a lot of other vegetables in the crisper that were just on the cusp of becoming past their prime, and so I chopped them up, threw them in the oven, and then mixed them together with some brown rice and the most addictive lemon tahini dressing I could create. It was so delicious, so accidentally wonderful, that I became a little bit obsessed with making it. I'd make it every day if I could.

This salad is full of energy and goodness! It's creamy, zesty, and vegan, and it is wonderful served warm or cold. I will frequently double this recipe just to eat the cold leftovers at lunchtime. It may not be a discovery on par with penicillin, but to me, it is just as addictive as potato chips.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup brown rice

1/4 cup tahini

Juice from 2 lemons, or 6 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1/2 head cauliflower florets (about 2 cups)

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch slices

10 white mushrooms, quartered

1 red pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks

3 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare rice as per package directions.

In a food processor, blender, or small bowl with whisk, combine tahini, lemon juice, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and water. Process or mix well until very smooth.

Place vegetables in a large bowl and drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Using your hands, massage oil onto the vegetables until they are all coated. Spread vegetables in a single layer on one large or two smaller baking sheets. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast vegetables in oven for 20 minutes. Add roasted vegetables to the cooked rice, and toss with the lemon tahini dressing.

Tip: this is also delicious served cold.

Want more nutrient-dense salads? Try my Quinoa Salad-in-a-Jar, my Freekeh Greek-eh Salad, or my Fiesta Quinoa Salad.

It's so easy to whip this up—watch me make Lemon Tahini Dressing.