Brown Rice Salad with Avocado, Cucumber and Wakame

Lately, I’ve been eating seaweed more often. I love how it adds umami. As I contemplated putting together recipes for spring and summer, I knew the line up needed to include it. So, here we are with a vegan brown rice salad recipe with avocado, cucumber, wakame and a simple tahini dressing. Giving off sushi vibes, it’s perfect for lunch, dinner, or as a side dish. And it’s also really easy to make, because there’s no sushi rolls to put together but you still get that delicious flavor.

This recipe makes ~10 side dish servings, depending on how generous you are with a scoop!

A few things…

• Dried wakame expands to ~10 times it’s size in water. When soaking it for this brown rice salad, make sure to add your dried wakame to a big enough bowl.

• Tahini can be like clay sometimes. Make sure to mix it really well with the oil in the jar, so it’s creamy and runny. If you’re using the last of the tahini and there is no oil anymore, well, you might just need to use a little less. It’ll be concentrated in that form, so try 1 Tbsp. If you taste it and wish it had more, add what feels right.

• I used packaged marinated sesame ginger tofu and cut it into cubes. You could also make some marinated tofu from scratch or substitute in some shelled edamame.

Let’s get boiling some brown rice for salad! And don’t miss other UVK recipes, like Edamame Kale Slaw with Orange Sesame Dressing, Lemon Tahini Dressing, Vegan Stuffed Red Peppers with Chickpeas and Rice, Slow Cooker Kidney Beans and Coconut Brown Rice or Vegan Southwestern Casserole with Soy Curls, Sweet Corn and Hash Browns.

Brown Rice Salad with Avocado, Cucumber and Wakame

2 Tbsp dried wakame

1 cup short grain brown rice

3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 large peeled garlic clove

2 Tbsp tahini

1 tsp agave

1 small avocado, peeled and cubed

2 cups cucumbers sliced into half moons

~1 cup cubed marinated tofu (OR 1 cup shelled edamame) – (see notes above)

¾ cup chopped radish

½ cup red bell pepper sliced into 1″ strips

½ cup shredded carrots

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Black sesame seeds, to top – optional

1. First, you’ll get the seaweed going for the brown rice salad. Add the dried wakame to a large bowl. Fill it with enough water to amply submerge it. Soak until it’s ~10 times its size (~15 minutes). Drain, rinse, chop it and set aside.

2. While the wakame soaks, it’s time to make the brown rice for the salad. Add the rice to a small pot with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for ~25-30 minutes or until tender enough to enjoy eating and cooked through. Remove from heat, rinse thoroughly with cold water to bring down the temperature, and set aside to drain.

3. In a blender, add the soy sauce, lime juice, and garlic. Blend until the garlic is totally pulverized and unrecognizable. Add the agave and tahini. Blend. Taste and adjust flavors, if needed (more soy sauce? lime?). Set aside.

4. Add the chopped wakame, brown rice, veggies and dressing to a large mixing bowl. Fold together. Taste and adjust flavors, if needed (soy sauce?). Sprinkle with black sesame seeds, if you like. Serve.