Tomato rice

Finishing my current obsession with brown rice, this is an interesting little dish. It is quite tasty and very easy to prepare. Fresh basil is a must for this one.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (or olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
250 g of brown rice
250 g tomatoes
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
2 cups of vegetable stock
25 g of tasty cheese, grated
1 teaspoon of butter
Fresh basil, chopped

Method
1. Heat the oil in a fry pan and fry the chopped onion and sliced garlic.

2. Stir in the uncooked rice and cook until it is transparent (about 10 to 15 mins).
3. Skin the tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water for a moment. When you pull them out, you should be able to remove the skin.
4. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and add to the pan.
5. Season with sea salt and pepper.
6. Add the vegetable stock, cover the pan (use a piece of foil if you don't have a lid that fits), and simmer for about 20 minutes. At the end, the rice should be cooked and all of the stock absorbed.
7. Stir in the cheese, butter and freshly chopped basil. Serve immediately.

Fortified porridge

Here's another delicious brown rice recipe - perfect for that winter warm-up early in the morning. It packs a punch and you'll feel like you swallowed a bowling ball afterwards, but on the upside you won't be hungry for about 6 or 7 hours.

Ingredients
1 cup of rolled oats
3 cups of soy milk or water
1 tablespoon of raisins
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon of hazelnuts, chopped, or almonds
Honey to taste

Method
1. Add the raisins to the milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Stir in the oats, salt, chopped apple and nuts.
3. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes over a gentle heat.
4. Add the brown rice and cook for a further 2 minutes.
5. Sweeten to taste with honey.
6. Serve with milk, cream or yoghurt.

It makes enough for about 3 people.

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.

Tomato and chickpea curry

This curry was inspired by the fact that I had Roma tomatoes needing to be used up and the discovery of a can of chickpeas in the pantry. It's quick to make and very tasty. You can add more curry powder if you prefer a stronger curry flavour.



Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas (you can boil your own from a food co-op but they smell and a can is much easier!)
2 - 3 small onions
2 - 4 cloves of garlic
2 - 3 tbspns curry powder
dash of coriander seeds
good shake of cumin
salt n pepper
approximately 6 - 8 Roma tomatoes
135ml light coconut milk
1 tbspn olive oil
rice

Method
1. Add oil to fry pan and allow to heat.
2. Chop onions and garlic. Fry on low to medium heat until onions are soft.
3. Add curry powder (you can use more if you want more curry flavour). Stir.
4. Add coriander seeds and cumin, along with salt and pepper (to taste).
5. Drain the chickpeas from the can. Add about 3/4 of the can to the curried onion mixture. Stir.
6. Pour in light coconut milk (make sure it does not boil).
7. Add tomatoes and cook on moderate heat around 10 mins, or until you can smell curry.

8. Cook rice to serve with curry (I usually make mine in a microwave, cooking on medium heat for around 20 mins).
9. Serve curry with rice.

Unfortunately vegerama's blood pressure has skyrocketed lately, so you expect to see some lighter, low cal meals from now on, as she tries to shift some blubber.

Curry in a hurry - cashew nut korma

It's time to lash out away from all that rich carby pasta and rice and move into the wonderful world of Indian flavours! I have Indian neighbours, all the way from downtown Bangalore. Often I have to close my balcony door to drive out the smell of South Indian spices drifting up from downstairs (not to mention the shrieks from their kid, but that's another story). This recipe is fairly easy to make. It is tasty and improves over time. High leftover potential too.

Ingredients

75g (3 oz) creamed coconut, sliced into flakes (Hard to find in the shops! Try a health food shop or food co-op as my local fresh food corporatised supermarket did not sell it. It comes in chunks.)
30 ml (2 tbspns) sunflower oil (olive oil is OK too)
2 onions, chopped
2 fresh green chillies, deseeded and finely sliced (greens one are mild)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 ground coriander
125g (4 oz) unsalted cashew nuts, pureed in a food processor
salt n freshly ground black pepper
250g (8 oz) long grain rice (white or brown - I used white)
1/2 medium sized cauliflower, split into florets
125g (4 oz) okra, with ends cut off (see photo - you should be able to buy okra in a supermarket)

125g (4 oz) zucchini (courgettes), sliced
125g (4 oz) frozen peas
2 - 4 tbspns chopped fresh coriander

Method
1. Place coconut in a bowl and pour over 450ml (15 fl oz) boiling water. Stir and leave to melt completely.
2. While that is melting, warm oil in a saucepan over moderate heat, adding onion. Cover and cook until tender (5 - 7 mins).
3. Add chillies, garlic and spices, stir well and cook for a further 1 - 2 mins. Remove and set aside.
4. Stir pureed cashew nuts into the bowl with melted coconut. Add this mixture to the onion and spices in the pan. Season with salt n pepper. Cover and set aside again.
If you are after a more intense flavour or if you are pre-preparing it, you can now leave it for up to 24 hours. Cover it and keep in the fridge.
5. When you are ready to eat, cook the rice (I always just use a microwave).
6. Cook the veggies by pouring 1cm (1/2 in) boiling water into a largish saucepan. Add cauli and okra, cover and half-boil, half-steam for 1 min. Add zucchini (courgettes), cover and cook for another 3 mins. Drain the veggies.
7. Stir veggies into the creamy cashew nut mixture, along with frozen peas.
8. Warm entire mixture over a gentle heat. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.
9. Serve on rice, sprinkled with chopped coriander.