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I’ve been thinking about this Brown Rice Tomato Basil Salad ever since making slow cooker farro with cherry tomatoes and Parmesan.
It’s an oldie but good from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family (affiliate link) that I first made years ago.
If you’re on the lookout for easy tasty Weight Watchers salad recipes, this one fits the bill. With just a handful of common ingredients you can make it in minutes—especially if you have leftover brown rice in the refrigerator.
Cooking up a large pot of beans, or brown rice, or lentils, or quinoa once or twice a week to have on hand in the fridge can be a real time saver at meal time. (At the moment I have both a stash of cranberry beans and brown rice available.)
Recipe Notes
With brown rice in the refrigerator and tomatoes and basil on the counter, I was able to whip up this wholesome low fat brown rice tomato basil salad in less than ten minutes.
I made a couple of adjustments. I used red wine vinegar since I didn’t have champagne or rice wine vinegar. And used honey instead of sugar.
If you want to make this brown rice tomato basil salad ahead, leave out the basil until serving time.
If, like me, you find cooking rice a challenge, you may want to do what I did—invest in a rice cooker (affiliate link). It’s made my life so much simpler. Sticky and/or scorched rice are now a thing of the past.
In the meantime, if you need a little extra brown rice cooking guidance, here is a great blog post from Pinch My Salt for How to Make Perfect Brown Rice on the stove.
How Many Calories and WW Points in Brown Rice, Tomato and Basil Salad?
According to my calculations, each generous 1-cup serving has 155 calories.
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
4 SmartPoints (Green plan)
4 SmartPoints (Blue plan)
1 SmartPoints (Purple plan)
4 PointsPlus (Old plan)
And is Simply Filling too.
This tastes best served at room temperature.
Here’s another favorite salad with all the delicious flavors of summer in the Mediterranean: Easy Italian Summer Rice Salad
If you’ve made this Tomato and Basil Salad with Brown Rice, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Brown Rice, Tomato and Basil Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1/4 cup champagne vinegar or rice wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons sugar (I used honey)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (affiliate link)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup packed basil leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Bring 2-1/4 cups water to a boil and add the rice and 1 teaspoon salt. Return to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Transfer rice to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl (affiliate link), whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, remaining teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of pepper.
- Pour mixture over the rice. Add the chopped tomatoes and basil. Mix well and adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.
- This brown rice tomato basil salad is best served at room temperature.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 4 SmartPoints (Green plan) 4 SmartPoints (Blue plan) 1 SmartPoints (Purple plan) 4 PointsPlus (Old plan)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Source: slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family (affiliate link) by Ina Garten
This recipe is super amazing! i am so gonna try it
Thank you so much for sharing