PrintCook the Book: Very Green Rice
Growing up in an Asian American household, it was always strange for me when I went over to a friend's house for dinner and there would be butter all over the fluffy white rice. Rice to me was always simply served plain to balance, but not interfere with, the bold savory dishes—plus, nothing beats the distinctive nutty scent of jasmine rice. My boyfriend shares this preference for plain old rice, but when I visited his family a few years ago, his mom made a really delicious green rice dish that blew me away and sounds just like Mollie Katzen's recipe for very green rice from The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without. Herbs, garlic, and scallions are pulverized and mixed with rice to make a healthy but tasty and eye-catching side. Add some poblano peppers into the green mix and you'll have a great burrito stuffer, too.
Very Green Rice
- makes four to six servings -
Ingredients
4 scallions, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths (whites and greens)
1 cup (loosely packed) each: watercress, flat-leaf parsley, mint leaves, and cilantro leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced or crushed garlic
4 to 5 cups cooked brown basmati rice
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
3/4 lightly toasted pine nuts (optional)
Squeezable wedges of lemon
Procedure
1. Pile all the scallions and green herbs into the food processor and pulverize almost to a paste.
2. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat. After about a minute, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the garlic and sauté by itself for just a minute, then add the processed herbs and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rice, mixing it in with a fork until the green mixture is uniformly distributed. Stir in the salt and serve hot or warm, topped with pine nuts, if desired, and accompanied by a squeezable wedge of fresh lemon. Remind people to use it!
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Sponsored Link
Recipe
Mango Bean Salad
Fresh fruit and hearty beans make a refreshing side for our Morningstar
Farms® Southwestern Style Veggie Cakes.
Get this recipe »
6 Comments:
Jasmine rice always smelled floral to me...not nutty. Although, it does smell nutty when it's uncooked...
sean_mcgee at 1:31PM on 01/08/08
Chile rellenos? Is it possible you mean chile poblanos?
Lauren Krueger at 2:04PM on 01/08/08
Or green chile strips or dice? Rellenos are whole green chiles stuffed with cheese and meat, then breaded and fried.
Bonny in New Mexico
bonnyholder at 2:06PM on 01/08/08
Good eye, Serious Eaters--the poblanos has been fixed; but Sean, I'm gonna stick with the nutty description, though it is a sweeter nutty scent that could be deemed as floral I suppose.
Jenn Sit at 3:06PM on 01/08/08
I was kind of hoping you did mean stuffed peppers. Those would be extravagant and awesome burrito fillers!
Lauren Krueger at 6:12PM on 01/08/08
Nutty or floral I bet it's yummy.
TurtleSoup at 1:57AM on 01/09/08