Fiesta Rice with Avocado and Tomato with a Chili Lime Vinaigrette

*Please ignore the horrible picture. It tastes so much better than it looks.

Awesome dinner time lighting

The other night when I made my tofu dino dunkers I needed a side to go along with them. I looked in the refrigerator and found some leftover tomato and jalapeño, half an onion, and had an avocado on the counter calling out to me. These few ingredients screamed tex-mex, duh.

A few hours later I was still milling over what to make and decided to check out my favorite blogs for inspiration (I do this almost everyday). Lo and behold over at Iowa Girl Eats I stumbled upon a grilled corn orzo salad recipe that actually used most of the ingredients I was working with! It came with a recipe for a delicious sounding chili lime dressing to boot!

That girl and her recipes know the way to my heart, I swear.

Needless to say I worked off her recipe and created something that both Mark and I loved. Avocado, tomato, chili lime vinaigrette.... What's not to love.

I'm pretty sure the only thing that would have made it better was a margarita. Next time.

Fiesta Rice with Avocado and Tomato with a Chili Lime Vinaigrette
Adapted slightly from here

Serves 2-3 as a side

Ingredients:

For fiesta rice:

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/2 ripe beefsteak tomato

1/2 avocado

1/8 cup onion, minced

1/4-1/2 jalapeño, minced

For the vinaigrette:

2 teaspoons quality olive oil

1/4 tablespoon honey

1/2 lime juiced

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

pinch of pepper

salt to taste, if desired

Directions:

Cook rice accordingly to directions on package.

Mix together olive oil, honey, lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt & pepper in a small dish.

Chop avocado and tomato.

Mix avocado, tomato, jalapeño, and onion in with rice.

Toss vinaigrette on top of rice mixture.

Stir to combine.

Enjoy hot or cold :)