Avocado, Orange, and Cilantro Black Rice Salad Recipe

Salads may be good for you, but they sure can get boring pretty quickly. This black rice salad recipe is a feast for the eyes and palate, full of unlikely flavor combinations and gorgeous colors. Avocado joins with mango, orange, onion, and cilantro to create a summer-apropos light meal you wish you knew about sooner. If this doesn’t get you excited for packing in nutrition, I don’t know what will.
This black rice salad recipe brings together summer flavors with a bit of spice and will fill you up quite well, so you don’t feel peckish later. The resulting dish is a fiber and protein-packed meal with fruity and citrus overtones and even a hot kick!
While this recipe is pretty complete and delicious as is, there are few substitutions that you may want to consider. If you aren’t a fan of cilantro, use parsley (or any other herb) instead. Meanwhile, grapefruit subs in well for orange, and the maple syrup can easily be replaced with honey, agave, or coconut nectar. The black rice can also be replaced with other grains.
Black Rice Salad Recipe with Avocado, Orange and Cilantro Salad
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the salad:
For the vinaigrette:
Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, maple syrup, white wine vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper until well combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together the cooked and cooled rice, mango, orange slices, mushrooms, shallot, and cilantro. Add the vinaigrette and toss until all the ingredients are evenly distributed and the vinaigrette is coating all the add-ins and black rice. Serve and enjoy!
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Wild Rice image from Shutterstock