Rice and Summer Bean Salad

Serves 2-4.

This is another recipe from the Rebar cookbook. I've been on a two week candida cleanse. It has been so hard! The diet required is very restrictive, no sugar, milk, cheese, sour cream, alcohol, caffeine, fruit (other than berries), tofu, walnuts, peanuts...this list actually goes on:( I cried on the first day, The good news is it has become much easier to follow and has led me to make some new dishes that I would never have made otherwise. This recipe actually calls for kasha rather than rice but I did not have success with kasha (it ended up a consistency of mush) so I used rice instead.

Vinaigrette

juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon, minced
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp minced fresh dill
1/4 tsp cracked fresh pepper
1/2 sunflower oil

Salad
1 cup buckwheat groats/kasha  (or 1/2 cup rice)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
2 cups water/1 cup water
2 medium beets roasted in olive oil
1/2 lb green or yellow beans, blanched
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
2-3 hard-cooked eggs for garnish


1) To make the vinaigrette, combine lemon zest, juice, vinegar, garlic, and Dijon mustard and whisk to blend. While whisking slowly drizzle in the oil. Add 1 tbsp dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2) Next, spread kasha in a single layer on the pan and roast in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Bring water to boil in a small pot and stir in kasha, bay leaves and slat.  Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let fluff for at least 5 minutes. (Or cook rice according to package instructions).

3) Peel and dice the roasted beets into 1-inch cubes. Toss with small amount of vinaigrette and set aside to marinate. Trim the ends of the blanched beans and slice each bean into three pieces on the bias.

4) To assemble the salad, toss kasha and beans with enough vinaigrette to coat. Gently mix in the marinated beets, the remaining dill and toasted sunflower seeds. Turn onto a serving dish and garnish with an arrangement of slice eggs and dill sprigs.