Warm summer salad

Warm Summer Salad

Jeremy and I are fans, Kason too..
(Jeremy made comments while eating about how good it was)
((This is uncommon))

For the brown rice:
1 cup brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
Pinch kosher salt

For the tomato-cumin vinaigrette:
1 large tomato, cut in chunks
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (Used Lime juice instead)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon cumin, freshly toasted and ground
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the salad:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, cut in half and sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
2 ears corn, kernels removed from the husk(We dont like mushrooms so we didnt add them, and didnt miss them!)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 can, 15 ounces, black beans, drained
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into strips
1/4 cup, packed cilantro leaves
Tomato cumin vinaigrette, divided
Brown rice
3/8 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup pumpkinseeds, toasted (YUM)

For brown rice, combine the rice and water in a 2-quart saucepan, season with a little salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45-50 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature, fluffing with a fork a few times.

For vinaigrette, combine the tomato, garlic, vinegar and oil in the bowl of a food processor; puree and transfer to a mixing bowl. Whisk in the green onion, cumin and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

For salad, heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Saute a few minutes until onions begin to caramelize. Add the mushrooms and corn, season with salt and pepper and cook until mushrooms are done; about 5 minutes. Add black beans and red pepper and heat through. Remove from the heat, toss in the cilantro and 4-5 tablespoons tomato cumin vinaigrette. Check seasoning and set aside.

Spoon the rice into a bowl and top with the spinach. Pour the warm vegetables over the spinach (this will wilt the spinach slightly) and sprinkle with the pumpkinseeds.

Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of tomato cumin vinaigrette, and save remaining for future use.

Ruths additions: This is really GOOD!! We even used canned corn (GASP!) and it was good! Jeremy seemed to really enjoy it and I know I did! The texture was AWESOME! I cooked the rice in the rice cooker (WAY EASIER) and it was perfect!

Thanks BONNIE!! :)

Keep the recipes coming if anybody finds anything you want me to try!