Last Sunday we visited the farmers’ market held weekly in Mountain View, a very short drive from where we are living at the moment. It’s one of the most popular farmers’ markets in the Bay area and with good reason. A wide range of fresh organic seasonal produce can be found here. There’s no way you’ll ever leave there without bags full of lovely vegetables and fruits. This time round, I picked up some freshly plucked purple kale along with some juicy large Californian oranges among other things.

Inspired by a recipe I found recently in a magazine (‘Martha Stewart’s Living’ magazine to be precise), I decided to throw together the kale with an orange and add rice, my favourite staple, to make it a wholesome meal. There was some feta lying around, so I added some of it too to give the salad a salty flavour. That’s how this simple dish came together for a busy day’s lunch. It is definitely not a ground breaking recipe but I thought I’d share it anyway. It’s a tasty example of how to use up any greens you may have lying around and the flavour combinations really work.

Warm Brown Rice, Kale, Orange & Feta Salad

Ingredients (serves 1-2)

about 1 cup freshly cooked brown rice or any other rice of your choice, slightly cooled – wild grain rice would be another great choice

a large bunch of kale leaves washed and chopped

one medium orange peeled and separated into segments

2-3 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

a large glug of olive oil

1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Method

Place the rice in a large bowl. Blanch the kale in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and quickly rinse in cool water. Squeeze out any extra moisture and add it to the rice. Add the orange segments and feta to the bowl. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Mix everything through and add more seasoning or balsamic vinegar as required.

This salad is a light meal on its own either warm or cold. It can also be a great side dish for dinner. So pick up some greens and throw this easy salad together now.