Spanish rice

I have a new best friend in the form of brown rice! It's not like the instant hit of white rice carbs, but brown rice keeps your energy levels powering along. Discovering brown rice has led me to a range of recipes that I'd previously shunned as hippie food or lacking taste. This one is yummy, easy to prepare and makes a lot so you have some for lunch the next day.

Ingredients
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
100 g of mushrooms
1/2 cup of fresh peas or beans
3 tomatoes
1 tablespoon of parsley, chopped
1/2 tablespoon of basil, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
50 g black olives, de-stoned
3 cupfuls of brown rice, cooked
Tamari (a kind of soy sauce, available from Asian supermarkets or stores)

 Method
1. Finely chop the onion and fry with the sliced garlic in a pan with the oil.
2. When the onion is soft, add the chopped mushrooms and peas/beans and cover the pan. Cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add the chopped tomato, herbs, seasoning, the quartered olives and lastly the rice. Keep turning the mixture until the rice has heated.
4. Serve with tamari.

Baked Risotto with Zucchini, Tomato & Parmesan

This is a delightful little number. Whenever you need comfort food on a cold winters night or a shot of serious carbs, this is just what the doctor ordered. It has good leftover potential and you can mix n match the ingredients if you' re missing something. I've made this with zukes, but also with mushrooms. This one was made with mushies and Spanish onion as I was out of white onions:

Ingredients
2 tablespns extra virgin olive oil (preferably from the Blackheath farmers market!)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspn of sea salt
1 cup Arborio rice
1 1/2 cups of veggie stock (meat eaters can use chicken stock, straight from the bird)
400g tin of chopped roma tomatoes
3 zucchini (courgettes) finely chopped
60g freshly grated Parmesan (preferably from Baldies! local deli Katoomba)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespns finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
 Optional - shavings of Parmesan cheese for serving

Method
1. Pre-heat over to 200 degrees C/392 degrees F
2. Heat 3 litre (12 cups) capacity ovenproof dish (a casserole dish is good) with a lid over medium heat ( I tend to skip this step and move straight to the food preparation; also my casserole lid is broken so I use foil over the top)
3. Add the olive oil, onion and sea salt and stir for 5 mins or so until the onion is soft and translucent
4. Add the Arborio rice to the dish and stir for another minute.
5. Add the stock and chopped tomatoes and bring to simmering point.
6. Stir in zucchini (or mushrooms if you are using them) and sprinkle with Parmesan and black pepper.
7. Cover the dish with the lid (or foil) and bake the risotto for 30 mins or until the rice is cooked.
8. Scatter parsley over the top, sprinkle with Parmesan shavings if desired and mix them through the rice.

This is great to make on a Sunday night and then have it for din dins the following night while you indulge in a bit of Monday night telly.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Well, I got carried away on Friday night, lashing out on six delicious large mushies. These little guys can be stuffed with all sorts of lovelies. Due to a lack of decent spinach at the supermarket I had to stuff the little blighters with something else. These are tasty . . .

Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
8 large mushrooms (the big variety)
1 tablespn olive oil
1 small leek, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
100 g firm tofu (mine was mixed with peanut satay sauce, perfectly OK in this recipe)
1 courgette (zucchini, or zukes), chopped
1 carrot, chopped
100 g/1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs (mine were out of date so just grate some brown bread in lieu)
2 tablespns chopped basil
1 tablespn tomato puree (paste)
2 tablespns pine kernels/nuts
75 g/ 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
150 ml/2/3 cup vege stock
salt n pepper
green salad, to serve

Method
1. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop finely.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped mushroom stalks, leek, celery, tofu, zucchini, and carrot and cook for 3 - 4 mins, stirring.
3. Stir in the breadcrumbs, basil, tomato puree/paste and pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spoon the mixture into the mushrooms and top with the cheese.
5. Place the mushies in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour the veggie stock around them.
6. Cook in pre-heated over at 220 degrees C/425 degrees F/Gas Mark 7 for 20 mins or until cooked through and the cheese has melted. Remove the mushrooms and serve immediately with the green salad.