Tag Archives: rice

Dec 07 2012
24 Comments
Beans, Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, Main Dishes, Other People's Food, Soups and Stews

Other People’s Food 7: The Comfort Food Edition

Slow-Cooker ChiliIf you had to pick the ultimate comfort food, what would it be?  Pot pie?  A spicy curry?  Macaroni and cheese?  Or maybe hot cocoa (hot cocoa sounds more comforting than hot chocolate) or a warm brownie topped with ice cream?  Winter is just around the corner – though some days it feels as if it’s already here – so my cooking changes from quick and cool to hearty, warm and comforting.

Chili, in almost any form but the ones including meat, is one of my favorite comfort foods.  You can put it together quickly and let it simmer gently for hours – and it tastes better the next day.  I recently made the version from In Vegetables We Trust (Slow-Cooker Chili) which includes a hint of unsweetened cocoa to mellow and deepen the beany, peppery flavors.

Double Chocolate Coconut Pecan CookiesWhat’s comfort without cozy chocolate?  If you didn’t see this recipe on Somer’s blog, Vedged Out, then you must be hibernating.  And I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you were.  I mixed up a batch of her Double Chocolate Coconut Pecan Cookies and my belly and I felt contented, satisfied and downright happy despite the flurries blowing outside.  In fact, I laughed at them between bites.

Kalamansi Coconut RisottoFor me, rice is one of the most comforting foods around.  This may be because when I was a kid my mom made the most delicious rice on the planet – buttery and creamy and heavy on the ground black pepper.  When I was a young lass living on my own there were evenings when it was me, the TV and a big bowl of steaming, hot rice.  This is why I included AstigVegan’s delicious Kalamansi Coconut Risotto recipe in my comfort food hall of fame.  It’s got all the things I love: creamy rice, coconut milk, lemon zing and mushrooms.  (Sorry, Richa, I couldn’t get kalamansi here in Utah so I made due with lemon juice and some orange zest!)

Maple Coconut Coffee ChocolatesIf there’s anything more comforting than chocolate, it’s…more chocolate.  I made these babies one Sunday afternoon when I needed a heavy dose of comfort.   Big fat flakes of snow were flying outside.  The foothills of the Wasatch were barely visible in the fog of white.  Ike had wisely tucked himself back into his doggy bed and Paul Westerberg provided background music with one of his most plaintive tunes, Here Comes A Regular.    The enticing smell of melted chocolate takes the cold edge off of any winter day.  I got the original recipe from  Things My Belly Likes (Maple Coconut Chocolates), and I hit the print button before you could say Give me a Mounds bar!  I messed around (i.e., made it more complicated than it needed to be) with the recipe and have included it below.

One year ago today: Pesto Pasta e Fagioli
One year and one day ago: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cherry-Apricot Compote

Maple Coconut Coffee Chocolates with Add-ins
Makes ~30 (using small muffin cups)

1 cup coconut oil
1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 heaping tbsp. Dandy Blend (herbal coffee substitute), optional
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/8 cup sweet cacao nibs (with a little extra for sprinkling on top of the chocolate)
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped (with a little extra for sprinkling on top of the chocolate)
1/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (with a little extra for sprinkling on top of the chocolate)

I lined up my paper and silicon mini muffin cups on baking sheets and got all of the ingredients ready to go before I melted the chocolate and coconut oil.  Mise en place.  It’s a good thing.  Sprinkle the pecans into the bottoms of 1/3 of the muffins cups; sprinkle the cacao nibs into the bottoms of 1/3 of the muffin cups.  You’ll be stirring the flaked coconut into the remaining 1/3 of the melted chocolate/coconut oil mixture – so hold off on sprinkling that into the bottom of the cups.

In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil and chocolate over low heat  Whisk occasionally.  Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup and vanilla extract.  They’ll sizzle so watch your eyes.  For really smooth chocolate, put the cocoa powder and Dandy Blend through a sieve and add to the melted chocolate.  Whisk until smooth and melted.

Carefully pour the chocolate into the pecan- and cacao nib-fille cups.  Now, stir in the 1/3 cup flaked coconut into the rest of the chocolate and pour into the remaining muffin cups.  Sprinkle the tops of the chocolate cups w/ the corresponding add-in so that later you know which chocolate you are popping into your mouth.

Chill the cups until firm.

Ingredients

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Sep 16 2012
32 Comments
Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, Desserts

Cocoa Puffed Rice & Kamut Crispies and An (Upcoming) Giveaway

Cocoa Crispies

My simple rule of thumb is this: If I can make it in my kitchen, using whole ingredients; it’s unprocessed. I can cook lentils and add carrots and onions and spinach to make a soup, so that’s unprocessed. I can blend fruits together to make a smoothie, so that’s unprocessed. I can bake a potato or cook corn, so that’s unprocessed. But I can’t make a Fruit Loop.
- from Unprocessed, by Chef AJ

Okay, so by Chef AJ’s definition, the recipe below has no place in an “unprocessed” kitchen. It’s a safe bet to say that I can’t make vegan marshmallow creme in my own home. So why am I including it here? When that little 10 ounce tub of the stuff whispered sweet nothings in my ear during a recent Whole Foods run, I couldn’t resist. I once really liked Rice Krispie treats, see.  I don’t crave salt.  What’s oil done for me lately?  Nothing.  No.  It’s the sweet stuff that calls to me like a stranger lurking in the inky shadows of an alley saying, “Pssst….I’ve got what you need.”  So, chocolate crispies seemed like a good send-off as I embark on a week of making and eating Chef AJ’s sugar-free, gluten-free, salt-free and oil-free creations.

Here’s the backstory. Recently I was contacted by Chef AJ who asked if I’d be interested in reviewing her book, Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight. Interested?? Can you make dark chocolate pudding out of avocados?!! I was over-the-moon flattered and excited. Not only did she want me to review her book, she asked if I’d like to give away a copy of it to one of you lucky readers. That’s what I call a win-win situation. So the plan for the next week is: all of our meals will be from Chef AJ’s book. I’ll be sharing my thoughts and photos – and a couple of recipes – just to give you a taste of what you can expect from her simple, healthy way of eating. And stay-tuned for the giveaway (my first ever)…

Shameless plug: Incidentally, my girl Somer is the one who first turned me on to Chef AJ. If you haven’t already found Somer’s new blog, Vedged Out, please check it out and show her your support. I’m so proud of her!

Unprocessed Cover

Crispies Ingredients

Cocoa Puffed Rice & Kamut Crispies
Makes more than enough bars

2 tbsp. chia seeds
6 tbsp. fresh-brewed coffee or water
10 oz vegan marshmallow creme
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
4 tbsp. hemp seeds
4 cups puffed rice cereal
4 cups puffed kamut cereal

Combine the chia seeds and coffee or water in a small bowl, stir and set aside until thickened. In a large bowl, combine the hemp seeds, puffed rice and puffed kamut cereals. Set aside. Prepare a 9″ x 13″ pan by lining it with parchment paper.

In a large saucepan, gently warm the marshmallow creme, cocoa and chocolate chips, stirring to thoroughly melt the chocolate chips. When the mixture is melted and combined, pour it into the cereal mixture and stir until all of the cereal is coated with the chocolate mixture.

Pour the cereal/chocolate mixture into the pan and place in the refrigerator until set. Cut into squares.

(These aren’t as solid as “normal” Rice Krispies – the ricemallow creme is a lot softer than marshmallows and there’s no butter to firm things up. Some excellent additions to these treats would be dried, tart cherries, raw cacao nibs, crystallized ginger or chopped nuts.)

One Cocoa Crispie

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Apr 26 2012
28 Comments
Main Dishes, Pantry, Quick & Easy, Stir Fry, Tofu, Vegetables

Vegetable Fried Rice with Tofu Made With No Oil

Wok with Fried RiceFor a long time, I thought that good fried rice was available only in Asian restaurants.  But my problem with restaurant fried rice is that it’s loaded with added fat, salt, prepared with white rice and I can’t really feel sure that it’s vegan.  So if I want fried rice, it has to come out of my own kitchen.  Enter Mark Bittman.  I modify his recipe for fried rice from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  I omit the oil (and egg) and use baked tofu and the veggies I have on hand.  That’s the beauty of a dish like fried rice.  Not only can you tweak it to your own tastes, but also to what you have in the refrigerator and cupboard.

Vegetable Fried Rice with Tofu

Serves 4

3-4 cups cooked brown basmati, brown jasmine or regular brown rice (~1 1/2 cups dried)
vegetable broth or water as needed
Brown Basmati Rice, Cooked1 onion, chopped
2 cups asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces
1 bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 cups baked tofu, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced or microplaned
1/4-1/3 cup dry sherry
4 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
salt & pepper to taste
cilantro, chopped
scallions, chopped
roasted peanuts, chopped
limes, quartered
hot sauce

Have all of your veggies and liquids ready to go before you fire up your skillet or wok.

Bowls of Veggies

Heat skillet/wok over high heat.  Splash in a little vegetable broth and add the onion and bell pepper.  Lower heat a little bit and stir, adding more broth as needed.  Cook for about 5 minutes – letting the broth cook off so that you get a little browning on the vegetables.  Remove veggies to a bowl or plate.

Add more broth to the pan, then add the asparagus, cooking just until they get bright green.  Add to the onion and bell pepper.

Another splash of broth to the pan and now add the garlic and ginger, stirring just for about half a minute or so.  Start adding the rice a bit at a time, breaking up any clumps.  Stir and add broth as needed.  Once you have all of the rice in the pan, stir until it starts sticking a bit.  Now add the tofu and the cooked veggies to the pan along with the sherry.  Cook for about 1 minute.  Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add the scallions.

Divide rice between four big bowls and top with cilantro, peanuts and limes.  (Kel suggests also adding fresh chopped tomatoes and sliced cucumbers.  Too bad he suggested this after we’d finished eating!)

Bowl of Fried Rice


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Nov 08 2011
11 Comments
Breakfast, Slow Food

Slow-Cooker Rice Pudding

Rice Pudding in BowlWhat is the matter with Mary Jane?
She’s perfectly well and hasn’t a pain,
And it’s lovely rice pudding for dinner again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
- A.A. Milne

I suppose if rice pudding were being foisted off on me night after night, I might throw a fit or two myself (just look at what repeat mutton meals did to Lizzy Borden) – but since I rarely have rice pudding, I consider it a treat.  Especially when it cooks overnight and is ready for us in the morning for breakfast.  This originates from a Vegetarian Times recipe; I traded out half of the arborio rice for brown rice (for “unrefined” reasons) and halved the amount of sugar called for – and made it maple sugar instead of sucanat.  But sweeten it how you like, it’ll taste great.  I also added cardamom, allspice and raisins to my batch, just to make my taste buds extra happy.

Slow-Cooker Rice Pudding
4 Servings

1/3 cup brown rice
1/3 cup arborio rice
5 cups soy or almond milk
1/4 cup maple sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/2 cup golden raisins (or other dried fruit), optional
toasted nuts, optional

Very lightly coat the inside of a slow-cooker with cooking spray.  Combine all ingredients in the slow-cooker and turn on to low.  Cook for 6-8 hours.  If desired, add a half cup of raisins or other dried fruit during the last half hour of cooking.

Serve this rice pudding warm or cool, for breakfast or for an evening snack – with additional soy milk if needed.  I top mine with sliced bananas and chopped, toasted nuts.

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