Brown Rice & Lentil Salad

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I got the inspiration for this recipe while channel surfing one afternoon. Giada De Laurentiis was making a similar salad on her show Everyday Italian. I switched it up considerably to make it my own. I am always thankful for the inspiration of the Cooking Channel though!

Into the rice cooker goes one cup texmati brown rice with two bay leaves and one and three-quarter cups of vegetable broth. I believe in my rice cooker this take about a half hour to cook. Once it clicks to cook, allow to sit an additional ten minutes or so. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool. The rest of the components for the dish can be ready while the rice is cooking.

Heat a skillet over medium heat on the stove top. One turn of olive oil goes into the skillet. For this recipe I used my favorite sun-dried tomato infused extra virgin olive oil.

Rough chop one large sweet onion and six garlic scapes. Into the skillet to saute they go.

Rough chop four medium carrots and add to skillet when the onion is just starting to get tender. Saute another few minutes until the carrots begin to get tender.

Add into the skillet one and a half cups of your favorite lentils, along with two and a quarter-cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook twenty minutes or until lentils are tender.

Strain lentils when one and add to rice.

Rough chop two cups of kalamata olives and nice size bunches of fresh (just cut from the garden is always best!!) parsley, basil, spicy oregano, and lemon thyme. Add into lentil rice mixture.

Toss well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This salad is delicious all by itself as a light lunch or as a side dish to almost any meal!