Vegan Ventures: Let the journey begin! Tonight's Venture: Vegan Coconut Dragon Bowl Salad!

Well here it is my first official post to “Vegan Ventures”…….tonight’s venture: Coconut Dragon Bowl Salad! I found this recipe on the Earth’s Balance website. The recipe was submitted to them by Nikki, The Tolerant Vegan. I made a couple modifications of my own which I have noted in the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice, cooked (I used Lundberg Organic Brown Basmati Rice. When cooking the rice I substituted Nutiva Coconut oil instead of using butter)
1 medium zucchini (I used organic zucchini and actually used 2 instead of 1)
1 cup chopped carrots (I used organic baby carrots)
1 cup chopped broccoli (Fresh from our friend’s garden, Thanks Carl & Joy!)
1/2 tsp. sea salt (I substituted this with herbamare by A.Vogel)
1/2 tsp. black pepper (I substituted this with herbamare by A.Vogel)
4 cups romaine lettuce (I used a mix of romaine, frisee, & boston red leaf lettuce all organic and fresh from our CSA Garden at Hillside Springs Farm)
1/2 cup golden raisins (I used Newman’s Organic California Raisins)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato (I omitted these because my kids doesn’t care for them)
1/4 cup chopped scallions (also fresh from CSA garden)
3 tbsp. of Earth Balance® Organic Coconut Spread (I used Soy-free Earth Balance)
Pan-seared chicken (we buy Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast by Organic Prairie) (Optional add-on for serving non-vegans/vegetarians)
Fresh Organic Feta Crumbles (again optional add-on for non-vegans)

Directions:

1. If using the rice I used it takes 50-60 to prepare so be sure and allow enough time for cooking and cooling it.

2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Chop the zucchini, carrots, and broccoli into bite-size pieces. Toss mixture in 1 tablespoon of melted Soy-Free Earth Balance. Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet and sprinkle with herb mare; then roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. When finished set aside to cool.

4. While the vegetables are roasting, heat the remaining two tablespoons of Earth Balance® in a skillet and add the brown rice. Sprinkle with herbamare, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.

5. Remove the rice from the heat and stir in raisins and scallions. When finished set aside to cool slightly before adding to salad.

6. Layer lettuce mixture in large salad bowl. Then top with (cooled) roasted vegetable mixture. Next spoon rice mixture in center of salad bowl.

7. When I plated the salad I topped it with pan seared chicken strips for the meat eaters in my family; and fresh organic feta cheese for the non-vegans. I set a few different dressing for people if they wanted it; but the majority of my family opted to eat it with out dressing because it had a lot of flavor as is.