Black rice and quinoa good night sleep salad

by Dan

This is the perfect dinner for when you are stressed and running out of time: nutritious, tasty and full of sources of magnesium, melatonin, B6 and tryptophan – all compounds that can help relaxation and good sleep. The high content of antioxidants will also help the body repair itself when going through extreme stress. Black rice and almonds are sources of melatonin, a compound our body naturally produces to induce sleep. Almonds, and quinoa, are also rich in magnesium, a mineral that promotes muscle and mind relaxation.

Pumpkin seeds are rich in both tryptophan, precursor of melatonin, and B6 – the compound need to transform tryptophan into melatonin. This salad is full of other antioxidant foods, like coriander and turmeric. Liver detox is aided by broccoli with help to get rid of the toxin in the body, including heavy metals that coriander can chelate. Gut health is not forgotten as the main ingredient of the dressing is kefir, which is one of the richest sources of probiotics.

INGREDIENTS

Salad:
1/2 cup of black rice
1/2 cup of red quinoa
1/4 cup of coarsely crushed almonds
1 diced celery stalk
2 sliced spring onions
1/2 coriander bunch chopped
1/2 small broccoli steamed
Handful of pumpkin seeds

Dressing:
½ cup live kefir
2 tbs of lime juice
Olive oil
1 tsp of turmeric
Pinch of salt and pepper

METHOD
1. Start cooking in separate pots full of boiling water both the red quinoa and black rice. This will roughly take 30 minutes, and can be done in advance.

2. In the mean time chop the celery, the coriandercrush the almond, slice the spring onions and start steam for 15 minutes the half broccoli already cut into pieces.

3. Whisk all the dressing ingredients adding some warm water if too thick. Regulate the salt and pepper to your liking.

4. Drain the rice and the quinoa, mix them together in a big bowl and add all the previously chopped and crushed ingredients.

5. Add the steamed broccoli and the dressing and you are ready to enjoy your meal!