Rice, Tomato, and Avocado Salad- Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-free

A healthy plant-based delicious dinner without a lot of effort? 

Yay! I love combining healthy ingredients to a make a quick and easy delicious plant-based dinner.

Eliminating or reducing eating animal protein is not difficult. 

After all, many foreign countries eat much less animal protein than we do in the United States and their cultures have some mighty tasty recipes using beans, vegetables, and grains. 

The recipe is a quick and simple go-to recipe of mine. It is made using a bed of cooked rice (white, brown, or basmati), topped with chopped tomatoes and chopped avocado, seasoned with freshly squeezed lime, salt, pepper, sesame seeds and cumin seeds, and a can of drained chickpeas ( or 2 cups of cooked chickpeas) for protein.

Don't like rice? Substitute quinoa

My husband likes white rice, so I made white rice (this time) because this meal was for him. Perhaps a healthier version would be to make the identical recipe using brown rice. 

I make my rice in the Instant Pot . It needs about 10 minutes to pre-heat before cooking and then 12 minutes to cook. The rice comes out just the way we like every time and clean up is minimal and I don't have to ever watch the pot since it will turn off itself when done and keep warm till I'm ready to eat it. 

Tomato and Avocado Salad Topping

2 large vine ripe tomatoes, chopped 

or 1 container of cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, chopped (Florida style or Haas avocado) 

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 small lime

1/4 cup of chopped parsley or cilantro

1 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds

1 tablespoon of sesame seeds

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste  

2 cups of raw rice washed and cooked  (white, brown, or basmati)

I can of drained chickpeas

Directions: 

After cooking the rice or using leftover cooked rice, layer the cooked rice, chickpeas, and tomato avocado salad mixture in a bowl starting with rice on the bottom. Add the seasonings and dig in. 

If you want more vegetables eat with steamed broccoli. 

This quick meal is not only plant-based vegan, it is also gluten-free, and oil-free. 

What's all the hoo-ha with oil-free? 

Oil-free does not meal fat-free. Oil is a HIGHLY concentrated HIGHLY caloric condiment that contains zero fiber AND according to many cardiologists and doctors should not be part of a heart healthy diet. It took years to convince us that sugar is not our friend. Now if you start to read about "oil " (olive, canola, sunflower, etc.), you will start to understand why "oil" is not your heart's friend.

 Quote From Naked Food Magazine

"All vegetable-based oils, which pretty much follow the same model as processed sugar, are pressed from plants. All the nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water, have been stripped away. Oil is nothing but fat. Oil has more calories per gram than any other food. A tablespoon contains about 14 grams of fat." (source)

I stopped using "oil" (but did not stop eating avocado, olives, and nuts and seeds) about 10 months ago. I find that I got used to it quickly and have lots of good alternatives and have lost and kept off 15 pounds just eliminating oil. The hardest part has been giving up salad dressing with oil- but now I don't even miss it.  

More Sources: 

The Ultimate Guide to cooking and baking without oil

Dr. Gregor- Nutrition Facts (excellent)

Dr. McDougal- 

Dr. Essylton

My Notes and Shortcuts:

1. The rice can be made the day before and just assembled

2. Rice can be made in advance and frozen in packets. . How I freeze my own rice packets (link). Remove from freezer as needed for cooked rice

3. You can make your own chickpeas in the Instant Pot (link)instead of using a can of chickpeas. 

4. Big Shortcut: 

You can take out a container of cooked white or brown rice in most Chinese restaurants. Just bring it home and assemble for this quick and easy delicious meal.