Thursday, May 12, 2016

Quick & Easy Yellow Rice (vegan, gluten-free, low fat)



Seriously. Quick and easy peasy! (Pun intended.) And so yummy. Why would you ever go back to that weird packaged stuff after having this? You won't, trust me.

I pulled this together today after finding myself in need of a quick lunch. Start to finish, lunch was done (and delicious) in 20 minutes.

This rice makes a quick and filling meal for up to two people, or you can serve it as a side dish for up to four people. Confession: I ate the whole batch by myself. O_o

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QUICK & EASY YELLOW RICE

Gluten free, soy free, oil free, low fat and vegan.

Yield: 2-4 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

You'll need a medium sauce pot with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice
3 cups water (see recipe note below)
1 tsp onion flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp aleppo pepper (or crushed red pepper) (optional)
pinch of black pepper
2 vegan bullion cubes (any flavor)

1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen chopped kale or spinach (or any other green you love)

Method

Rinse and drain rice, and add to a medium saucepan. Add water, onion flakes, garlic poweder, turmeric, aleppo, black pepper and bullion. Put saucepan on stovetop over high heat, and after about 2-3 minutes of heating, give the mixture a good stir to make sure the bullion has dissolved and the spices are throughly mixed into the rice. Now cover with a tight-fitting lid and keep pan on high heat until it reaches a boil, then immediately reduce heat to low to create a simmer. Let the rice mixture simmer for 15 minutes or until all water has absorbed into the rice. Remove cooked rice mixture from heat and stir in the frozen peas and frozen kale; let it sit in the pot for about 5 minutes to heat through and then serve.

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RECIPE NOTE: I always give the standard rice to water ration (1:2) in my recipes, but do like to note that this isn't how I actually cook my rice. This is for two reasons, 1) I prefer a dry rice so that it holds up to stirring and serving rather than becoming mushy and 2) I purchase an aged, long grain basmati from my local Indian Grocery store that performed better with a lower water ratio. For this recipe, using my preferred style of basmati rice, I put only 1 2/3 cups water in the recipe. This won't necessarily work for all types of basmati rice, so if you plan to experiment with decreasing the water, to it in small increments until you find what works for your rice.


© 2016 Ahimsa Kitchen and Marty Tribble | Reproduction of this post without written permission is unlawful.