Making the Commitment to Eating Healthy

Wild Rice Salad

Eating Healthy: Gluten Free Wild Rice Salad

We recently joined a local organic farm. Decided to get creative with this week’s vegetables. The dishes together were so colorful, I had to take the photo above.

I made a wild rice salad, green bean salad and an Argentine chimichurri to go on the steaks we grilled. YUM!

As I looked at the array of dishes sitting in front of me, Kermit the Frog’s line “It isn’t easy being green” popped into my head. I don’t make dishes like this frequently although we eat a lot of salad and raw veggies every day.

I have two kids who at 11 and 13 still grumble about eating their vegetables and even my husband complains about too many green things. They like spinach, greens and peppers, beans, cucumbers but they don’t like root vegetables like turnips or parsnips, greens like kale and chard… I have learned to hide some vegetables in soups and sauces but am always looking for creative recipes.

I love eating healthy this way and realized how much I have changed what I prefer to eat according to the whims of my family.

I also realized that being a busy working mom has meant that I don’t take as much time as I want to prepare meals. None of these dishes took long to prepare. So what stops me from maintaining the healthy lifestyle I want to create for me and for my family? Laziness, unwillingness to fight the battles over food, cost (eating organic is expensive) and the commitment it takes for preparing beautiful food.

Since we moved to California, I have been less busy than I was in my previous life. I have the time, the passion and the interest. I also have easy access to beautiful, fresh and locally grown foods. We moved here because we wanted to revamp our lifestyle. Eating healthy is part of that.

Recipe for Wild Rice Salad

  • 3 cups leftover wild rice (we like this Trader Joe’s blend)
  • 3 to 4 cups of assorted chopped vegetables: cucumber, broccoli, sweet pepper, celery
  • 2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped or torn into bite size pieces
  • 1/2 cup of your favorite vinaigrette – I used a Mediterranean vinaigrette that was not too vinegary
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

I love recipes that are quick, flexible and healthy. This is an easy one to make using whatever odds and ends of salad vegetables you have on hand.

Looking at these dishes lined up together reminded me how important this is to me and so I go on from here committing to take the time, to take care of my family and to feed us beautiful, organic, healthy green food.

Share

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *