Dilled Adzuki Bean and Rice Salad
Today I offer you a recipe in spirit of sunny days and lighter fare (although it has been a bit chilly here). Adzuki beans and rice are very easy to digest while giving you clean-burning energy to get you through fun-filled summer days. I made this for dinner tonight, though I am looking forward to the leftovers for lunches.
I made a large pot of both brown jasmine rice and adzuki beans for dinner last night so it was very easy to throw dinner together tonight. I used fresh carrots which we bought at the market on Saturday, while the green onions, butterhead lettuce, and fresh dill came from our garden.
Melissa at Gluten Free for Good just did a great post which included the health benefits of dill. And while you are there be sure to check out her coconut beet ice cream, it looks fabulous!
For a refresher on how to cook beans please refer to this post. But remember, adzuki beans are considered "small beans" and do not require any soaking.
To cook a pot of Brown Jasmine Rice:
Place 2 cups of rice into a 2-quart pot, add just a tad under 4 cups of water and a large pinch of sea salt. Cover pot, place over high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the rice is boiling turn heat to low and simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let stand about 10 to 20 minutes before serving. Be sure to let your rice cool to room temp before making this salad.
Dilled Adzuki Bean and Rice Salad
Serve this grain and bean salad over fresh lettuce leaves, or place a spoonful of salad in each leaf and eat "wrap style." Try adding diced cucumbers, red bell peppers, or any other vegetable you desire to this recipe. Garnish each serving with toasted sunflower seeds. Salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Salad
Dressing
Optional Ingredients
- Place all ingredients for the salad into a large bowl. Set aside.
- To make the dressing, place all ingredients into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. I actually add all ingredients to a wide-mouth pint jar and use my immersion blender to combine the ingredients.
- Pour dressing over salad and toss together. Serve over lettuce leaves and garnish with toasted sunflower seeds and avocado slices if desired.
Elimination Diet Modification: If you have introduced lemon juice and are okay with it then replace the vinegar with an equal amount of lemon juice in Phase 3.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Comments
Not sure you'll even see this since the post is so old. But my girls loved this! Finally a meal on the elimination diet they raced about! I blended unripe apple from our tree into the dressing, instead of vinegar, added a splash of maple syrup to replace the honey. I also added a huge fuji apple to the salad and used quinoa instead of rice. Wrapping in butter lettuce leaves was fun and my oldest (age 8) could not eat quietly as she had to keep saying how good it was and how she wanted me to make it again. This is our first week on the elimination diet, and I'm glad to be able to have something they'll eat and enjoy and is so easy to have on hand. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing Lynne, so glad you all enjoyed it! :)
This salad is WONDERFUL!!!! It has become a staple in my refrigerator this summer. Everyone who has tried it has liked it and gone back for seconds.
Jennifer - Your grain and bean salad sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing. My boys, like your little one, just toss the spoon aside when it comes to this meal. The hands seem to get it in the mouth faster! :) We make "quinoa balls" almost everyday for them. It is one of their favorite foods - perfect for snacking on outings too! :)
I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand for this specific salad, so I made a combination of the grain and bean salad to go and this salad with the everyday dressing. It had adzuki beans, rice, kale, carrots, avocado, sunflower seeds and the everyday dressing. It was super yummy and now I am hooked on them since they're so easy to prepare. D. just ate it out of the bowl by the handful. I still puree most of the grains since she doesn't really chew her food yet. I've been quite lazy with the quinoa though, so it's good to have reminders that it's still a worthwhile thing to grind the grains. :-)
Pavlina - I know, this salad is addicting! I had more for lunch today in romaine lettuce leaves topped with avocado slices! Glad you enjoyed it so much! :)
I finally made this salad the other day and it was soooo good I could not stop eating! Simply yummy!
Thank you so much Ali!
Jill - Thanks, hope you are enjoying this salad by about now!
Katie - I hadn't thought about trying this with quinoa or millet, thanks for the suggestion. Quinoa sounds like it would work well.
Deb - Well it looks like I am a little late for your picnic, life is busy here as you know! :) For the future, I would try serving this with hummus and cucumber slices, zucchini bread, and raw chocolate truffles for dessert? Sounds like a decadent (and nutritious) picnic, huh!
Adrienne - Thanks for the suggestion! Using this salad as a collard green burrito filling sounds great! :)
Melissa - Yes, beans and greens, the magic bullet to all health problems :)!! Glad I can inspire!
talkinglikerain - Thanks for sharing your adaptions, I love vinegar too. :) You might try our Green Apple Salad Dressing next time - found on this blog - that might suit your tastes better.
Jennifer L. - The first night I made the beans and rice I gave it to my boys plain - with the rice ground up in our Kidco food grinder. Tom feels it is very important to continue to grind the grains for the boys, even though they have molars. This way they can get more out of the food. We like to form the ground grains into little balls (maybe 1/2 - 1 inch in size). They had the beans plain. I made a different salad that night with a mint dressing. The salad I posted here I did give them for the sake of learning how to chew, carrots and all! The dressing is fine for a toddler. They loved it and had seconds! I will try to remember to give toddler/baby adaptions in future posts, thanks for the reminder! :)
Jenna - Thanks, I love dill too! I am hoping it will be useful for those on the elimination diet now and in the future. This salad is great for breakfast also, enjoy! :)
Ellen - Glad I can inspire! Your version sounds yummy too! :)
Thanks! -Ali :)
Ali - another winner! The picture is beautiful. I made a variation of it tonight using brown rice and chickpeas. I subbed in red onion for the scallion (didn't have any) and instead of Herbamare (didn't have any) I used dried basil and oregano. The dressing is perfect. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh Ali, this looks fantastic and I can not wait to try it, I was wanting more dill recipes! I love that you added some options for elimination without lemon or vinegar-brilliant! Thank you!
Plain adzuki beans and rice for the toddlers or would the dressing be alright? I like the bits on how to adapt the meals for the younger bunch.
Ali - this is so yummy! Thanks for another great recipe! I didn't have fresh dill on hand, so used dried (sprinkled gently as I kept mixing and tasting). It's going to be great for our picnic dinner tomorrow night! I have to admit I tried the dressing with a tart green apple instead of the vinegar (we'll be starting the elimination diet soon), and I caved and added some vinegar :-) Maybe I needed to add more apple?
Thanks again!
Ali -- this looks beautiful, healthy and tasty. All good things! I haven't made any beans for a couple months now. Hmmm? I need to do that. You inspired my ice cream, now you're inspiring me to make beans. I have some unusual French beans in my cupboard, I might have to pull them out tomorrow. Beans and greens! :-)
Thanks!
Melissa
thanks, Ali, you gave me an idea for dinner tonight. I put the bean/rice salad into a collard leaf and rolled it up like a burrito. i also added some sliced avacado in there, it was delicious!
This will be the perfect salad to eat tomorrow at the first Concert's on the Square! Do you have suggestions of what I can serve with this? Simple and easy to carry would be great! This looks so refreshing, I like the idea of adding the cucumbers.
Hope you are having a great week!
Deb
Hi Ali- I am planning on trying this tomorrow, but using quinoa or millet. It will be a nice change from black beans and quinoa. I love dill so am anticipating something great. Thanks! Katie
Thank you for the timely post. My husband and I are on the second day of the smoothie fast. Today I am preparing a few basics for the next phase --- adzuki beans and rice are 2 of the staples there! I feel fantastic though husband is dragging today. Hopefully with the addition of "solid foods" he will get is groove back. :-)
Jill & Sean
Shirley - If you use this dressing as a salad dressing (for a green salad) I would cut the Herbamare (or sea salt) down to 1/2 teaspoon. Enjoy! :)
That's a gorgeous salad, Ali! I'd like some for lunch, too. ;-) I love the green onions in it. I just copied the dressing and will be trying it on the salad I already had planned for lunch. I will make that salad one day (I love that you don't have to soak Adzuki beans!), but without that pesky dill. LOL
Have a great day--thanks!
Shirley