Vegetable stews, curries [1], stir-frys, and countless other plant-based meals are perfect partners for rice. But if your approach is to simply cook the rice and serve it up plain from the pan, you’re missing countless opportunities to bring more flavor, color, and excitement to your vegetarian and vegan meals.
In her enticing new book, The Heart of the Plate [2], Mollie Katzen offers plenty of inspiration for elevating rice to tasty new levels. One of our favorites is her Cranberry Rice, shown above, which can stand on its own as a mini-meal or snack, make a beautiful addition to a plate of cooked green or raw vegetables, or partner deliciously with vegetable main dishes.
Take a look at what’s on your pantry shelves and in your refrigeration and start experimenting with the rice you already have on hand. Then, head out to your supermarket and take look at the many different kinds of rice on the shelves. Red, black, and purple varieties are almost always whole grain [3] and thus offer more nutrients and fiber than white rice. We guarantee that you’d soon find a helping of plain rice just too dull for words.
Cranberry-Currant-Pomegranate Rice
This recipe is based upon Mollie Katzen’s Cranberry Rice [4], from her new book, The Heart of the Plate.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 cup red rice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large shallots, minced
Salt to taste
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
¼ cup currants or chopped dried cranberries
2 teaspoons agave nectar or sugar
Pomegranate [5] seeds
Directions:
Combine the rice and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the rice is tender. (Follow the package directions for the cooking time.) Remove the rice from the heat and let it sit, covered.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots, sprinkle with salt, and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are tender. Stir in the cranberries and cook for 5 minutes longer, until the cranberries are soft. Stir in the currants and the agave. Turn off the heat and begin adding the rice to the mixture in the skillet, stirring it in with a fork. Serve garnished with pomegranate seeds.
More Ideas to Wake up Your Rice
Once you start to experiment with rice, there’s no turning back! You may well find, as we did, that you want to combine several of the ideas below.
Do you have a favorite way that you wake up your rice?
-Georgia
Links
[1] https://oldwayspt.org/community/blog/remembering-year-curries
[2] https://oldwayspt.org/community/blog/cookbook-q-getting-heart-plate-mollie-katzen
[3] http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/rice-and-wild-rice-september-grains-of-the-month
[4] http://www.molliekatzen.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=1034
[5] https://oldwayspt.org/community/blog/series-12-great-ways-use-pomegranates
[6] https://oldwayspt.org/community/blog/some-sage-advice-make-recipe
[7] https://oldwayspt.org/community/blog/series-12-great-ways-usekale
[8] https://oldwayspt.org/community/forum/oldways-vegetarian-network/tricks-using-fresh-herbs
[9] https://oldwayspt.org/resources/12-great-ways-use-walnuts