Cotija Avocado Rice Pilaf

If you like Mexican food, then you’ll love this Cotija Avocado Rice Pilaf. It is very simple to cook and a deliciously flavorful way to get in some whole grains, vegetables, and healthy fats. The ingredients used include:

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• Brown rice – I recommend precooking your rice in a big batch to cut down on prep time with individual recipes. That way, you can quickly scoop out rice and toss into a recipe quickly rather than spending 20+ minutes cooking rice each time. Rice will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Onion and Bell Pepper – our veggies! like the rice, you can pre-chop your veggies in bulk to save time. Since these veggies aren’t prone to wilting, they will stay fresh for several days int he fridge. Each portion of this recipe uses about 1/3 of a pepper and onion, so chopping them up ahead of time will probably get you three meals worth!
• Olive oil – The nutrition for this recipe is based off of 1T of olive oil. If you use olive oil to prep your rice (it helps keep it from getting too sticky!), you can adjust the amount down a bit.
• Avocado – you will use about 1/3 of an avocado. Make sure the avocado is dark in color and slightly soft to the touch to ensure that it is ripe. If you drizzle some lime juice on the unused portion of the avocado and cover tightly with plastic wrap, you can save the rest for the next day.
• Cotija cheese – by itself, cotija cheese is definitely considered a high sodium food. The cheese we bought for this recipe contains a whopping 310mg of sodium per 80 calorie portion, so almost 4x the sodium than calories. Luckily, the other ingredients in this recipe contain no sodium, so the recipe still ends up being low sodium!
• Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning – I personally enjoy spicy food, so adding a little of this seasoning gives a nice kick. It’s also salt-free, which is great!

Cotija Avocado Rice Pilaf

Recipe by Lauren Gleason, Registered Dietitian and Certified Specialist in Renal Nutrition

Nutrition:

Calories: 503

Protein: 11g

Carbohydrates: 48g

Fiber: 8g

Sugar: 4.5g

Fat: 31g

Sodium: 406mg

Potassium: 576mg

Phos: 374mg

Bioavailable Phos: 195mg

Calcium: 263mg

Course: MainDiet: CKD Non-DialysisDifficulty: Easy

Nutrition:

Calories: 503

Protein: 11g

Carbohydrates: 48g

Fiber: 8g

Sugar: 4.5g

Fat: 31g

Sodium: 406mg

Potassium: 576mg

Phos: 374mg

Bioavailable Phos: 195mg

Calcium: 263mg

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup onion, chopped

• 1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 T olive oil

• 3/4 cup brown rice, cooked

• 1/3 cup avocado, diced

• 1 oz cotija cheese, crumbled

• To taste Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning

Directions

• Saute onion and bell pepper in olive oil on medium heat until soft and browned, approximately 8 mins.
• Dice avocado and crumble cheese while peppers and onions cook.
• Add rice to pan and toss gently to warm rice and absorb remaining oil.
• Remove from heat and transfer to bowl. Add cotija and avocado.
• Season to taste with Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy seasoning.