Sunday, October 22, 2006
Seeing Red
As the days get shorter and colder my thought turn to eating more hot grains. A fun way to experiment with grains that you are unfamiliar with is to get a sampler from Gold Mine Natural Foods. This mail- and internet- order company specializes in macrobiotic foods and cookware. They offer a variety of grain and rice samplers with such exotic fair as black buffalo barley, Bhutanese red rice, and blood brothers red sweet corn. Their rice sampler includes a half a pound of eight varieties of rice for less than $20. My latest favorite is Bhutanese red rice described as an “an ancient short-grain rice grown 8,000 feet in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Irrigated with 1,000 year old glacier water rich in trace minerals, this exotic rice has a nutty/earthy flavor, soft texture and beautiful red russet color.” The even better news about this rice is that it cooks in only 20 minutes, but still provides you with all of its whole food goodness.
Today’s Lunch
Curried Bhutanese Red Rice with Buffalo and Broccoli
Mix 1 cup of red rice and 1 cup of water with a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for twenty minutes or until all of the water is absorbed. In the meantime, chop 1/2 onion and cook in a skillet with 1 tbsp of coconut oil for 2 minutes on medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add 1 tbsp of curry. Cook for an additional five minutes, stirring occasionally. (Cooking curry powder in this manner helps reduce any bitter taste.) Add 1/2 lb of buffalo and cook until browned, about ten minutes. (As I’ve said before game meat is best to cook slowly over low heat.) Chop the flowers from one medium-sized head of broccoli. Strip the stem of its tough outer skin and slice. Add broccoli to the skillet and cover, cooking until the broccoli is tender. Serve over red rice, feeds two.
Today’s Lunch
Curried Bhutanese Red Rice with Buffalo and Broccoli
Mix 1 cup of red rice and 1 cup of water with a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for twenty minutes or until all of the water is absorbed. In the meantime, chop 1/2 onion and cook in a skillet with 1 tbsp of coconut oil for 2 minutes on medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add 1 tbsp of curry. Cook for an additional five minutes, stirring occasionally. (Cooking curry powder in this manner helps reduce any bitter taste.) Add 1/2 lb of buffalo and cook until browned, about ten minutes. (As I’ve said before game meat is best to cook slowly over low heat.) Chop the flowers from one medium-sized head of broccoli. Strip the stem of its tough outer skin and slice. Add broccoli to the skillet and cover, cooking until the broccoli is tender. Serve over red rice, feeds two.
