Coconut lime chicken with black rice

Black rice. I recently discovered it on one of my Bulk Barn trips where I go completely overboard and spend too much money buying a little bit of everything, especially things I've never heard of. Although I had a little bit of trouble cooking it at first, it turned out to be very tasty and it made a great addition to a quinoa salad I made earlier this year. Little did I know, it's apparently also a crazy superfood (I guess maybe everything I eat is). It contains really high antioxidant properties which can help protect your body from cell damage, lowering your risk of cancer and heart disease. The rice is also packed with fiber and has a really low sugar content.

And I already mentioned that it looks cool and tastes good too, right?

The rice went perfectly with the coconut lime chicken that I made, which had a slightly sweet taste to it.   The coconut browned perfectly and the brown sugar complemented the lime really well. I also added some shredded coconut to the rice as it was cooking and then again when it was done and it added a really nice flavour. I highly recommend soaking the rice for at least an hour to cut down on cooking time.

Black rice & quinoa spinach salad

I love salads as meals in every way shape and form and they're even better when they include my two favourite ingredients: spinach and radish. Here's one that I threw together after another crazy Bulk Barn trip where I found some black rice. I wasn't really sure how to cook the black rice properly, it took me so much time because I'm the worst. But it worked out in the end and it turns out that black rice is actually really tasty and good for you (similar to brown rice but even BETTER). 

Ingredients: 
1/2 black rice
1/2 quinoa
3 green onions
5 radishes
2 small cucumbers
1/2 cup spinach (I used regular spinach but baby spinach works too)
crushed garlic (I used 4 cloves but I love a lot of garlic)
olive oil
lemon juice
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
feta cheese
olives

1. Prepare the quinoa and the rice.
2. Chop up the vegetables, crush the garlic.
3. Mix vegetables with lemon juice, balsamic, salt and pepper, olive oil, and garlic.
4. Add rice and quinoa, mix again. 
5. Add feta cheese and olives on top when you're ready to serve.

It made enough to feed 5 people with leftovers for lunch! And it still tasted great the next day.

Lunch: salad; Snacks: walnuts feta cheese, & olives; kiwi, banana, and guava with some Nutella