Chipotle-inspired rice salad (vegan, gluten-free)

As I was driving back from my writing class tonight I had the urge to stop by Chipotle to grab a salad for dinner. I could almost taste their honey lime dressing in my mouth, but just as I envisioned my salad before me, my thoughts blurred and I missed the turn I would have had to make to head to the nearest Chipotle. Going back or trying to swing by the other location would have been out of my way and put me home later than I would have liked. Instead I decided to see what I had at home and whip up a quick dinner. As I drove home I could see the basic foundation of my salad coming together: brown rice, corn, black beans and chili powder. When I got home, it took less than 15 minutes to whip up what turned out to be an absolutely delicious meal. Thanks to Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, the rice was cooked in 3 minutes. To the rice I added half a can of corn and half a can of black beans. For fresh veggie crispness I chopped up some of the cabbage I had from my produce box, a spring onion, a third of a cucumber and a handful of grape tomatoes. I added half a chopped avocado and stirred everything together. To recreate the honey lime dressing, I squeezed the juice from one lime, added a spoonful of honey and a slosh of canola oil, whisked everything together and stirred it into the salad. For seasonings I used a couple dashes of organic chili powder, ground sea salt and Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend. I stirred everything together and had a delicious, filling meal in under 15 minutes.

The delicious and colorful result! Sooo yummy!