Sweet and Brown Rice, Bok Choy with Garlic, Ginger, Chili and Miso

Brown Rice with Kale, Caramelized Shallots, and Miso

My friends and I ordered Chinese last night while catching up on Drag Race, and I had a lot of brown rice left over. I heated that up with a little mirin, and sauteed some shallots with a spoonful of red miso, added kale until it wilted, and combined everything. Delicious, and about as easy as possible!

Beet Burgers!

When I was in Austin a couple months ago I had an amazing veggie burger at 24 that was made with beets, lentils, and brown rice. I found this recipe on the Kitchn that looked similar, and with a couple of small modifications I think it came out great! Here's how I made mine (warning- lots of prep work is involved). I used chickpea flour so that the burgers would also be gluten-free.

1/2 cup cooked brown rice (you should overcook it so it's very soft)
1 onion, diced very fine
3 large red beets, also chopped very fine (you could use a food processor for this)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 C cooked lentils, slightly mashed
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 Tbs ground coriander seed
1/2 C chickpea flour
salt and pepper
olive oil

Sautee the onions with a little olive oil until translucent. Add the beets, garlic, and coriander and season with salt and pepper. Once the beets have softened (shouldn't take long since they are chopped so fine), add the mixture to the rice and lentils in a large bowl. Check for seasoning and add the lemon juice and chickpea flour to help bind the mixture together. Form into patties.

When you are ready to serve the burgers, heat olive oil in a very hot pan and cook the patties until browned and crisp on one side before flipping (about 2 minutes per side). The patties may fall apart a bit in the pan, but you can just push them back together with a spatula and once they are cooked they should hold together pretty well. If you have time, form the patties ahead and regfrigerate for an hour or two before cooking them- this will make them hold together much better.

Serve with roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, and arugula lightly dressed in lemon juice. I think the burgers eat best on a softer bun, since they are relatively fragile- a harder roll will squash them and make for a messier meal.

Coconut Rice with Squash and Black Beans

From Tartelette... Terrible picture, but this was delicious! The lime zest and lemongrass in it really give it that something extra.

Leftovers

I had leftover jerk chicken and dirty rice from Brown Sugar Kitchen, so I cooked up some black beans and fried some plantains to go with them. Yum!

Mung Bean Dal with Rice and Vegetables

Erik and I are doing an Ayurvedic cleanse this week, so aside from some toasted sunflower seeds and spiced yogurt drinks, this is what we are eating for all our meals: Mung beans soaked overnight and then cooked with rice, cilantro, coconut, spices, ghee and vegetables of our choice. Today we added beets, carrots, fennel and dandelion greens. Not too bad for medicine.

Garbanzo Bean, Sunchoke, and Asparagus Risotto with Gremolata

There were fresh garbanzo beans at the market today! They taste like a cross between a pea and a fava bean, and we thought they'd go great with the yummy asparagus we've been getting. First we parboiled the asparagus and saved the water to cook the rice with. We roasted and then pureed the sunchokes and added them to the risotto once it was nearly finished cooking, along with the asparagus and beans, and then served it with gremolata on top.

Roasted Garlic Risotto with Toasted Almonds and Breadcrumbs, and Mascarpone Cheese

An old favorite!

Brown Rice with Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage

Mid Century Supper!

Here are the pics from Jenn and my dinner experiment... The diptychs show the photo from the original cookbook on the left, with our version on the right. I was especially excited to finally make the "Meatloaf Train," which has always been one of my most prized recipes. I should note that the cake was decorated by a very capable 10-year old. We also served cheese fondue with the canapes, but I didn't get a good pic. I'm not posting recipes, but if anyone wants them, please let me know.

Rice Pudding

I've been making this recipe on cold and rainy days for years. It's really more of a traditional Arroz con Leche than a real "pudding" (because of its lack of eggs), but it's delicious. Be warned: you will need to stand over the stove, stirring, for about 45 minutes, to keep the milk from burning.


1 C arborio or short grain rice
3 C milk
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1/2 C sugar

Combine the rice, milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and stir constantly until the rice is soft, and most of the liquid has been absorbed. If you need more liquid, you can add more milk or water. Once the pudding has reached the desired consistency, stir in the sugar. Top with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Carrot and Winter Squash Risotto

Here's another recipe from "The Produce Bible." I have made a lot of risottos, and I think this one is going up there with my favorites! I would recommend serving it with a little mascarpone cheese on top. Yum!


1/3 C butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 3/4 C diced winter squash (I used Butternut)
2 large carrots, diced
8 C vegetable stock, heated (or chicken stock)
2 C arborio rice
1 C shaved Romano or Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp nutmeg


Heat three tablespoons of butter in a large, heavy bottomed frying pan. Add the onion and sautee until soft. Add the squash and carrots, and cook for about 10 minutes, until tender. Mash slightly with a fork. Add the rice and cook for a minute until the grains are translucent, and add the first 1/2 C of vegetable stock. Simmer the rice until the stock is absorbed, and add more stock. Continue until you have used up all the liquid, or until the rice is creamy and soft. If you need more liquid, add water. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter, cheese, and nutmeg. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt. Allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes before serving.

Chilean Sea Bass with Fried Plantains and Rice

2 Chilean sea bass filets
2 ripe plantains (not completely black)
1 C rice
2 limes
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 C canola or peanut oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 fingers of ginger
1 Tbs dried basil
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 tsp dried chili flakes
Salt and pepper

Grate the garlic and ginger into a bowl and mix with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the zest and juice of one lime. Set aside.

Boil 1 1/2 C water for the rice. Once boiling, add the rice, basil, garlic powder, and chili flakes. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Let cook for 15 minutes, and then allow to sit covered for 5 minutes. Before serving, stir in the juice of the second lime.

Season the sea bass filets with pepper and salt and place on a sheet of foil on a baking pan. Pour the lime and ginger mixture over them and fold the foil up around the sides to keep the liquid from spilling out. Bake for about 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, slice the plantains on a diagonal, about 1/4 inch thick. In a large pan, heat the canola oil until it begins to smoke. Drop the plantains into the oil so that they form a single layer in the pan and cook till golden brown on both sides, flipping halfway. Remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain. While still hot, toss with a little salt.

Summer Vegetable Risotto

6 handfulls arborio rice
Olive oil
1 bulb garlic
1 C cippolini onions, sliced thin
Handful fresh thyme
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 yellow squashes, chopped
1 C english peas, shelled
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 C fresh corn kernels, removed from the cob
4 C vegetable broth
1/2 C white wine
Butter

Chop the top off the garlic bulb and wrap the bulb in foil, leaving an opening at the top. Place in the oven at 400 degrees and roast for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, and then squeeze the garlic out of the paper and set aside.

Start the risotto by caramelizing the onion in a little olive oil. Once the onions are golden brown, deglaze the pan with the white wine and let it cook off. Add the rice and toss to coat in the oil. Add about a cup of broth and bring to a boil. After you have added the first cup of liquid, add a couple pinches of thyme, and the roasted garlic. When almost all of the liquid has been absorbed, add more. Keep adding broth until it runs out, and then use water. You want to keep the rice bubbling, but not sticking to the bottom of the pan, so you will need to keep stirring constantly for about 45 minutes. Once the rice is soft, add the vegetables and simmer until cooked through. Season as necessary, and remove from the heat. Add a tablespoon of butter (or two for a large amount) and let melt into the rice.

Roasted Garlic Risotto

Risotto was one of the first dishes I learned how to make, and for a long time it was sort of my signature. There are a million different ways to make it, and this particular recipe was adapted from Jamie Oliver. It's one of my favorites, and it's easy to make in big batches for a large crowd.

Arborio rice (about one handful per person)
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
Fresh thyme (leaves picked off the stems)
1 whole bulb garlic
Two cloves garlic chopped
Olive oil
1 small onion, diced
Bread
Sliced almonds
Butter

Chop the top off the garlic bulb and wrap the bulb in foil, leaving an opening at the top. Place in the oven at 400 degrees and roast for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, and then squeeze the garlic out of the paper and set aside.

While the garlic is roasting, make coarse breadcrumbs by tearing stale bread (or use fresh and toast it slightly) into pieces. In a frying pan, combine with the almonds, a pinch of thyme, and enough olive oil to saturate the bread. Over medium heat, toast until golden brown and crispy. Be careful because the almonds will burn easily!

Start the risotto by browning the onion and chopped garlic in a little olive oil, in a large pan. Add the rice and toss to coat in the oil. Add about a cup of broth and bring to a boil. After you have added the first cup of liquid, add a couple pinches of thyme, and the roasted garlic. When almost all of the liquid has been absorbed, add more. Keep adding broth until it runs out, and then use water. You want to keep the rice bubbling, but not sticking to the bottom of the pan, so you will need to keep stirring constantly for about 45 minutes. Season as necessary, and remove from the heat when the rice is very soft. Add a tablespoon of butter (or two for a large amount) and let melt into the rice.

Serve with the breadcrumbs on top and a dollop of mascarpone cream.

Singapore-Style Black Rice Pudding

This is a dish that I have had at a favorite Singaporean restaurant and decided to try making for myself. I think it's delicious served warm with a little cold coconut milk on top. The sweet, warm pudding, combined with the cool milk is such a treat, and it's great with fresh fruit. Usually I serve it with strawberries, but this time I thought I'd play up the tropical origins of the dish by adding pineapple. Yum! Warning: like with most rice puddings, you will need to stand over the pot, stirring for a long time.

1 C black rice (Chinese Forbidden rice, or Thai sticky rice)
1/4 C sugar
Coconut Milk
Pineapple slices

Start by soaking the rice for at least 6 hours (or overnight). The rice should be covered by about 2 inches of water.

In a large pot, combine the rice and enough water to cover it, and bring to a boil stirring constantly. When almost all of the water is absorbed, add more and return to a boil. You will want to keep the pot bubbling, but not so hot that the rice will burn. Keep adding water until the rice has expanded and is extremely soft. Now stir in the sugar and remove from heat, letting the rice sit for a few minutes before serving.

Serve warm with a layer of cold coconut milk on top, and pineapple slices.