I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!! 🙂

Before I go into a quick weekend recap and recipe I wanted to announce the winner of the NOW Foods Giveaway!!

Thank you to all who entered the contest.  I truly appreciate your support 🙂

And the winner is…Courtney!!! (I’ll shoot you an e-mail!) Congratulations!!!

As for the weekend?  It was jam-packed with LOTS of fun stuff because we had Brian’s mom, aunt and grandma visiting 🙂

We explored lots of shops around Denver.

Drank delicious coffee at Aviano.

Had friends over for dinner 🙂

Explored Breckenridge.

It was a quick trip, but so so much fun! We loved showing them our new city.

And now for the recipe!

Recently, I have been trying to eat LESS raw vegetables, more starchy foods and less fiber in hopes that it may help with my digestive issues.  I’m still kind of figuring it all out, but I have been able to play around with some tasty foods…including sprouted rice + quinoa.

I won this package of tasty food in a little giveaway not too long ago, and I have loved experimenting with it!  If you aren’t sure why someone would eat “sprouted” rice over non-sprouted rice, I have read a couple of articles stating that the sprouting grains makes the nutrients easier for our bodies to access and they are easier to digest.  I don’t believe this has been scientifically proven, but this is what some people/companies claim.  Well…I love rice, and rice that is supposed to be easier to digest?  Sounds like a good match to me!

This recipe is also inspired by a little gift that our friend Kate gave us from a little shop in Kentucky called the Olive Spoutfv.

She gave us blood orange fused olive oil and cara orange/vanilla white balsamic vinegar.  What a combination!! I have loved marinating chicken and seafood and creating salad dressings with this orange/vanilla pair.  The citrus really brightens up the dish while the vanilla gives a smooth, warming flavor.  It’s really delicious.

I combined these two new-to-me ingredients together and tossed them with chopped spinach, tomatoes, and herbs to create a hearty side salad that is delicious warm or cold.

I provided links to the vanilla balsamic vinegar and orange olive oil below if you are unable to find these ingredients in a store near you!

Sprouted Rice and Quinoa Salad

Serves:  about 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked sprouted rice and quinoa-warm or cold* (or your favorite rice, quinoa, grain, etc)
• 2 Tbsp cara cara orange/madagascar vanilla white balsamic vinegar*
• 1 Tbsp blood orange olive oil
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 Tbsp chives, chopped
• 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 2 big handfuls of spinach roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, chives, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
2. Next, add the cherry tomatoes and spinach and toss in the olive oil, vinegar, herb dressing.
3. Add the sprouted rice and quinoa (or whichever grain you choose) and toss until combined.

**This salad can be served warm or cold, but if you have issues digesting resistant starches you will want to serve this dish warm. 

This recipe has not been tested for FODMAP content, but ingredients are used in amounts compliant with the Monash University App and guidelines.  Please eat the foods that make you feel your best!

*Balsamic vinegar is low FODMAP in a 1 Tbsp serving

Enjoy!

Question of the Day:

• Share something fun from your weekend!