Brown Rice Salad with Crunchy Vegetables

This is a great dish to take to a picnic or other group get together and I received rave reviews from it!
Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups of cooked organic brown rice
• ¼ c. scallions or red onions
• 1 small organic red or yellow pepper chopped
• ½ c chopped organic celery
• ½ – ¾ c chopped organic carrots
• ¼ – 1/2 c chopped parsley
• ¼-1/2 c chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, or walnuts)

Vinaigrette Dressing:

• ½ c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4-5 T Red Wine Vinegar
• Ground Black Pepper

Preparation:
Cook rice with appropriate water or vegetable broth.  I use a mix of ½ broth and ½ water to cook my rice as it gives it flavor.  If using a vegetable broth to cook rice, you will not want to add salt as broth has plenty of sodium.  I also cook my rice with a couple cloves of minced garlic for flavor and health benefits.
Combine rice and raw vegetables and nuts.  Add parsley.  Mix vinaigrette in separate bowl and pour over rice and veggie mixture.  Serve at room temp.  Can refrigerate up to a day ahead and bring back to room temp before serving.

Original Recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman2. Salads