Category Archives: Rice dishes

Mushroom, Rice & Tofu Mini Roasts

I’ve had these on the back burner for a while.  I was trying out some mushroom burger recipes and noticed I had half a block of tofu and some already cooked brown rice that needed to be used up so I added them in and the texture was lovely.  Rather than shaping by hand I used a muffin tray which gave them a nice crispy exterior and made portioning them out really easy.  Just as delicious cold as a light lunch with a salad or hot with mashed potato and gravy!

mushroom rice roasts

Mushroom Rice & Tofu Mini Roasts
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main, Snack
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion
  • 300g sliced mushrooms
  • 1 tsp thyme or mixed herbs / oregano
  • 1 heaped cup cooked brown rice
  • 200g firm tofu
  • 1 tablespoon miso paste
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Instructions
  1. Pulse the onion, mushrooms and thyme in a food processor until finely chopped but not a purée.
  2. Tip into a large frying pan, sauté for 7-10 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. No need to wash out the processor - put the rice, tofu and miso into the processor and pulse until well incorporated.
  3. Tip the contents into a large bowl, stir in the mushrooms and onion and mix really well until all the ingredients are completely combined.
  4. Pack into muffin trays. This makes enough for 6 small or 4 large roasts.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes.
  6. Cool for 5 mins, tip out onto baking tray and put back in oven for 5-10 minutes.

 

“Macro Rice” with red cabbage & edamame

Another lifetime ago when I lived and worked in London there was a Cranks Wholefood Cafe not too far away from my office and I used to love their “macro rice” which was basically brown rice, ginger, soy, and toasted sesame seeds.  So comforting and deliciously simple!  I had a sudden craving for it the other day and so decided to reinvent it with some additions.  It did not disappoint.  I served mine with a little cubed avocado.  It should be just a little warm or at room temperature, though it is probably nice on a summer’s day, chilled.


Macro Rice Warm Salad
 
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Warm brown rice with finely chopped red cabbage, red onion, parsley, ginger and toasted sesame seeds.
Author:
Recipe type: Salad, Rice,
Cuisine: Macrobiotic / Japanese
Serves: 2-4 servings
Ingredients
  • ½ cup raw short grain or medium grain brown rice, cooked (around 1.5 cups cooked)
  • 1 cup very finely chopped red cabbage
  • ½ cup finely chopped parsley
  • ½ cup cooked edamame beans
  • ⅓ cup very finely chopped red onion or spring onions
  • 1 cup finely chopped baby spinach
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
  • 2-3 tablespoons tamari / soy sauce
  • 1-2 tablespoons sushi seasoning (seasoned sushi vinegar)
  • 2-3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
  • Optional: top with a little dried chopped chillies / cubed avocado
Instructions
  1. When the rice is still hot (do not rinse, it should be a little stickly and still with some moisture) put it in to a large bowl and mix in the cabbage parsley, onion and ginger.
  2. Once it has cooled a little add the baby spinach and soy sauce to taste, then stir in the toasted sesame seeds and sushi seasoning. Leave to sit for 5 minutes and serve at room temperature.

 

Poke Bowls

poke bowl

Poke Bowls
 
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I have used rice and quinoa but you can use any variety and mix of grains you like.
Author:
Recipe type: Bowl
Cuisine: Hawaiian / Japanese
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 rice cups brown rice, 1 rice cup quinoa
  • Use any vegetables you like, a variety of cooked and raw. In this example I used
  • purple cauliflower, grilled in a sandwich press
  • broccoli, steamed,
  • 1 large red capsicum, sliced and pan-fried still slightly carameiised
  • Bunch of spring onions
  • 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted,
  • ¼ white cabbage, finely shredded on a mandolin
  • 1 large red onion, sliced and steeped in red wine vinegar for 30 mins
  • ⅓ cup sunflower and pumpkin seed
  • ½ cucumber, sliced
  • 1 large avocado, cubed
  • 1 bag frozen edamame beans, defrosted
  • Slices of marinated tofu, cooked on the grill
  • Pickled sushi ginger
  • Sauce:
  • ½ cup sushi seasoning (we like the Obento brand),
  • ½ cup soy sauce,
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic (or paste from a jar)
  • 1 tsp finely grated ginger (or paste from a jar)
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoons date paste
  • Couple drops of toasted sesame oil (makes a huge difference)
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons chilli (paste, semi dried or flakes - up to you!)
Instructions
  1. Put the rice and quinoa into your rice cooker and fill level of water to 3.5 cups. If you've no pressure cooker or if you're short on time use precooked bags of rice / quinoa or grab some you've already made from your freezer and defrost (good tip!) Otherwise cook in your favourite way.
  2. Prepare your vegetables:
  3. Pickle the red onion
  4. Steam the broccoli, or microwave
  5. Finely slice the cabbage
  6. Stir fry the sliced capsicum, then dry toast the seeds in same pan
  7. Slice the spring onions
  8. Defrost / microwave edamame / peas
  9. Dice the avocado
  10. Grill the tofu
  11. Mix in a jug all the sauce ingredients, adjust to your liking
  12. When rice is cooked let everyone assemble their own bowls, top with the sauce.

 

Easy Multi-grain Balls

My family is a big fan of the mix I use in my Kale & Red Pepper Bites so i decided to try and simplify the recipe so I could make it more often as it’s so versatile.  As well as making little bites, you can roll into falafel-like balls as I have done here and use just as snacks (or as meatballs with spaghetti); roll into sausages, or a filling for sausage rolls or pies.  The flavourings are easy to change up too so you could do Indian or Mexican spiced for example.  Fun to play around with the flavours!  This simple version just uses mixed herbs but feel free to add herbs and spices you love!  If you do not have  rice cooker use a large heavy based pan with a close fitting lid on a low light and be prepared to top up the water a little if need be.  The water should be completely absorbed by the end of cooking.

Easy Multi-grain Balls
 
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Author:
Serves: 20-30
Ingredients
  • ½ cup medium grain brown rice
  • ¼ cup millet
  • ¼ cup split red lentils
  • ¼ cup quinoa
  • 1 heaped teaspoon veg stock powder
  • 2 tsp dried mixed herb mix
  • 1 tsp garlic granules
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tablespoon low sodium tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon date syrup / paste
  • zest of a small lemon
  • ¼ cup ground almonds
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 cup quick oats
  • Sesame seeds for rolling in / sprinkling on top
Instructions
  1. Rinse the 1st four ingredients in a sieve - rice, millet, lentils and quinoa and put into your rice cooker with 3 cups of water. Cook!
  2. Preheat then oven to 190 degrees C.
  3. Meanwhile in a large mixing bowl put the remaining ingredients apart from the sesame seeds.
  4. Once the grains and lentils have cooked scrape them into the bowl and mix thoroughly. If liked you can refrigerate at this stage. The mixture will become much firmer as it cools down.
  5. Roll into balls or use an ice cream scoop to divide into portions, roll in the sesame seeds - or sprinkle them over the top and place on a lined baking tray.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes then turn and cook again for a further 10 minutes or until crispy and firm.

 

Mushroom Nasi Goreng

I’ve always loved this spicy Indonesian rice dish but until now I just couldn’t seem to infuse the flavours into the rice without using oil.  Finally I seem to have found a solution!  Hope you love this as much as my family did.


Mushroom Nasi Goreng
 
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Brown rice scented with garlic, ginger, citrus and chilli with plenty of mushrooms and finely shredded cabbage.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indonesian
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 4 cups cooked long grain brown rice
  • - SAUCE:
  • 3 cloves garlic, micro-planed / finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons lemon and or lime juice
  • 2cm piece ginger, finely chopped - a heaped tablespoon
  • 1 tsp lime zest
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon chopped chillies - from a jar (add more if you like it really spicy!)
  • 1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
  • 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
  • VEGETABLES:
  • ¼ green cabbage, cored and finely chopped
  • 400g grams diced mushrooms - about 3-4 cups
  • 2 medium carrots, finely diced
  • 1 cup frozen / canned sweetcorn
  • To serve:
  • Toasted peanuts
  • Chopped fresh coriander
  • Limes - quartered
Instructions
  1. Put on your rice to cook if not already available. (This may delay your serving time).
  2. Finely chop, crush or microplane the garlic, place in a small bowl and pour over the lemon and or lime juice and stir. Soak the garlic in the lemon juice for 5 mins.
  3. Add all other sauce ingredients then mix well and allow to sit whilst you prep the vegetables.
  4. Sauté the onion, cabbage, mushrooms and carrots in a large deep frying pan with a lid. Once softened - about 5-7 mins - add the paste, stir thoroughly and keep stirring for a few minutes to , thoroughly distributing the sauce through the veg.
  5. Add the cooked rice and mix well, then add a cup of water and the sweetcorn. Stir well and allow to heat through.
  6. Put on the lid, turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 5-7 mins until the carrots are tender and the sauce is absorbed into the rice.
  7. Turn off the heat and allow to sit whilst you get ready to serve.
  8. Serve each bowl with a quarter of lime, and scatter with coriander, peanuts and hot sauce.

 

Sweet & Sour Tofu

I had a craving for this dish which I used to love as a child when we would very occasionally go to a Chinese restaurant.  Of course it wasn’t tofu back then, was probably chicken or pork but it was the way that sweet tangy sauce soaked into the rice that I loved so this satisfies that completely!  After trying a few recipes I found on the net, I combined the best of them plus a few variations to make this version.  We usually enjoy it with some steamed bok choi or broccoli on the side. You can also add other vegetables such as snow peas or bamboo shoots / beansprouts at the end if you like.


Sweet & Sour Tofu
 
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Cooking time may be extended depending on how long it takes to cook your rice. I use a rice cooker and ours takes around 30 minutes.
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 300g pack of firm tofu (we like to use smoked but plain is fine)
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • Juice from 1 400g can pineapple pieces
  • ½ cup water
  • Pineapple pieces from the can
  • 2 tablespoons brown unrefined sugar
  • 2 heaped teaspoons corn flour
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced / microplaned
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 large red capsicum cut into strips
  • 1 large green or yellow capsicum, cut into strips
  • 1 large red onion, sliced into strips
  • 1 small can water chestnuts, drained - optional
  • 4 tablespoons roasted cashews - optional
Instructions
  1. Put your brown ride on to cook
  2. Mix together the pineapple juice, vinegar, tomato ketchup, soy sauce and lime juice in a small bowl, whisk in the corn flour and water and mix thoroughly until smooth with no lumps. Put the tofu in to a shallow dish and pour the sauce over and leave to marinade.
  3. When then rice is almost ready heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium heat and saute the onion and peppers until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and stir around for 5 minutes, adding a tiny splash of water if any sticking is occurring. Put on the lid and allow to cook on a low heat for a further few minutes until peppers are tender.
  4. Add the tofu and sauce to the pan, along with the pineapple, water chestnuts and cashews. Stir consistently until the sauce thickens and becomes transparent. Add a splash more water as needed to create as much sauce as you'd like.
  5. Serve with the rice and accompanying vegetables as desired.

 

Spicy Spinach & Mushroom Rice Bowl

This is based on a thing I’d kind of throw together for myself for lunch when I was a stay-at-home-mum and one day when I was marvelling at the deliciousness of it I realised I was being selfish to keep it to myself so I made it into a proper family meal and everyone loved it. Better still this is a quick and easy weeknight dinner, whilst not skimping on plenty of veg.  It’s kind of like a risotto so should be soupy and not a dry pilaf-type thing. If you like it hot spicy feel free to add chopped chillies or chilli powder at the start.  Otherwise this is totally kid friendly. 🙂


Spicy Spinach & Mushroom Rice Bowl
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 red capsicum, diced
  • 4 field mushrooms, diced or a bag ready sliced
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp coriander
  • 2 tablespoons salt reduced soy sauce
  • 2 tsp smoked (or regular if you're' not a fan) paprika
  • 1 bag baby spinach, 2-300g, chopped
  • 1 cup frozen sweetcorn and / or peas
  • 3 cups ready cooked medium grain brown rice
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 2-3 tablespoons tahini (or ½ cup fat free hummus)
  • 1.5 cups tomato pasta sauce
  • Juice of a (juicy) lime
  • Freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
  1. Prep all your vegetables.
  2. Heat a large, deep non stick pan (which has a lid preferably)
  3. Saute the onion, capsicum and mushrooms with the spices and cook for 5 minutes until the capsicums are softened a little then add handfuls at a time of the chopped spinach, stirring until it wilts in to the mixture - should take around 5 minutes.
  4. Add in the cooked rice, frozen corn / peas, the stock, the tahini (or hummus) and pasta sauce and stir well. Once it starts to bubble put on the lid and turn down to gentle simmer. After 5 minutes check the vegetables are all done to your liking. Stir in the lime juice, scatter with the parsley and serve!

 

Cauliflower & Kale Dhal (pressure cooker)

cauliflower kale dhal

This was inspired by Fatfreevegan’s recipe for Dal Tadka, I wanted to include more veggies and tweaked the method and spices a little.

Cauliflower & Kale Dhal (pressure cooker)
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 brown onions, chopped
  • 1 inch piece ginger, grated
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced, grated for finely chopped
  • 1 cup split red lentils
  • 3 cups water,
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder (optional)
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 3 cups small cauliflower florets
  • ½ bunch kale, de-stemmed & finely chopped
  • 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp chilli powder / to taste (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala / dhal spice mix / curry powder
Instructions
  1. Put rice on to cook if you are serving with rice.
  2. Heat the pressure cooker on brown function, add one of the onions, all the ginger and garlic and stir around for a minute, add a splash of water or stock if starts to stick.
  3. Add the lentils, water, stock powder if using, tomato, cauliflower, kale, cumin seeds, turmeric & salt and stir thoroughly.
  4. Lock down the lid and set to high pressure for 10 minutes.
  5. Whilst the dhal is cooking, heat a large frying pan and dry fry the onion with remaining spices for 5-10 minutes, over a medium heat. Use a lid to catch the steam and prevent them from sticking.
  6. Once the dhal is finished, release the steam and add the cooked onions and spices; stir well and serve.
  7. Great with mango chutney, freshly chopped coriander and a sprinkle of coconut if you wish.

 

Curried Brown Rice Salad

Indian Brown Rice Salad

Curried Brown Rice Salad
 
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Brown rice with chopped fresh raw veggies and an Indian inspired creamy dressing For a speedy week night dinner, cook the rice the previous day. This can easily be stretched to feel more mouths, depending on how much rice you add to the chopped veggies.
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 large stick of celery
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 medium capsicum
  • ½ cup baby frozen peas
  • ½ cup frozen corn
  • 12 green beans, steamed and sliced
  • 2 fat spring onions, sliced
  • ½ cup raisins or sultanas (optional)
  • 4-6 cups cooked brown rice, chilled or at room temperature
  • Garnishes: (optional): Fresh chopped coriander, coconut, toasted cashews, chopped chillies
  • Dressing:
  • 2 tsp tahini
  • 2 desert spoons avocado
  • ¾ cup soy milk or other milk of choice
  • 3 tablespoons vinegar, any variety
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
  • 1 tsp curry powder
Instructions
  1. Put the rice on to cook if you're not using precooked rice.
  2. Whisk together, or blend in processor the ingredients for the dressing.
  3. Finely chop all the vegetables and mix together in a large bowl.
  4. Once the rice is cooked, spread it out on a large tray to cool down, or place in fridge for 30-50 mins if you have the time.
  5. Dish up the rice in to individual bowls and top with the vegetables and dressing, and optional garnishes.
  6. Leftovers can be mixed together and put in the fridge for lunches the next day! 🙂

 

 

 

 

Mexican Brown Rice Bowl (and Burritos!)

Mexican Rice Bowl and Burritos
Ever since electric pressure cookers came into my life I’m always on the lookout for the simple “dump and forget” recipes where you can chuck everything in at once, switch it on and go about your business – knowing that you can come back to a meal that has not only been cooked perfectly but has been kept warm for you until you’re ready . This is one of those recipes – mainly pantry ingredients you can always have on hand so this can be a weeknight life saver!!

Mexican Brown Rice Bowl (and Burritos!)
 
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One pot pressure cooker dish which magically transforms into a burrito or wrap filling on day two! Soupy and sumptuous on day one but rice keeps absorbing stock so is much thicker next day for filling burritos.
Author:
Recipe type: One Pot, 2 dishes
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 stick celery
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 red capsicum
  • 1 medium carrot
  • - all finely diced
  • 1 cup corn
  • 2 cups brown medium grain rice, rinsed
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 500g jar Dolmio extra spicy red peppers sauce or similar
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 heaped teaspoon stock powder
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
  • 1 heaped tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp oregano
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients into pressure cooker*, stir thorougly, lock on lid and cook under high pressure for 23 minutes.
  2. Stir and allow to sit for 5 minutes
  3. Top with salsa / avocado/ coriander & hot sauce to taste.
  4. Place remainders in fridge overnight and use as burrito filling next day
  5. * If you have no pressure cooker, combine ingredients in a large casserole dish with a lid; add an extra cup of water, bring to the boil, put on the lid and simmer for 30 minutes or until rice is tender. You may need to add extra liquid during the cooking process but it should be quite soupy. 🙂