Warm Brown Rice Salad with Fennel, Rainbow Chard, and Carrots

Last week we visited our CSA farm - Fogline Farm - to plant leeks and cauliflower. During the farm tour, Riley spied these full leafy greens with canary yellow stems in rows. Rainbow chard! They looked just about ready.

Today, when we picked up our first box of the season, there were two bunches included. Oh, happy day.

I decided to make the rainbow chard the focus of a warm brown rice salad for dinner.

2 C cooked brown basmati rice

1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and diced
3 carrots, scrubbed and diced
1 bunch rainbow chard, rinsed and chiffonaded
2 T finely chopped Italian parsley
olive oil
sea salt flakes
freshly ground pepper
juice from 1 blood orange
1/2 C raw pistachios

While your rice cooks, saute the onion and fennel pieces in a splash of olive oil until they begin to soften. Stir in the carrots and cook until the fennel and onion are caramelized and the carrots are fork tender.  Add in the chard and cook till just wilted.

Toss in the brown rice, pistachios, and chopped parsley. Dress with olive oil, blood orange juice, and a little bit of salt and pepper

Serve warm.