Cooking Class: Spring Greens and Grains

Wednesday March 26, 2008 San Mateo Whole Foods Market

Redrice

Here’s a class for those of you who are trying to add more whole grains to your diet, but need interesting ideas for preparing them. This class will focus on seasonal spring vegetables, but I always include lots of suggestions for preparations in various seasons.

The Menu:

Farro and Fava Beans with Roasted Fennel, Toasted Walnuts, and Goat Cheese

Quinoa with Asparagus, Avocado, and Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Red Coconut Rice with Sugar Snap Peas, Ginger, Garlic, and Lemongrass

Carnaroli Rice Pudding with Fresh Strawberries

Here’s the recipe for the Red Coconut Rice (pictured above):

Red Rice is grown in the mountainous areas of central Asian and is available in the San Francisco Bay Area in most specialty or natural food grocery stores, either in the bulk section or packaged under both the Lotus Foods and Alter-Eco brand. This rice is a good light lunch or a great accompaniment to fish.

Serves 4

1 cup red rice
2 lemongrass stalks
A piece of ginger about 2 inches long
1 cup coconut milk
1cup water
Salt
2-3 garlic cloves
1/2 pound sugar snap peas
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Rinse the rice and drain it. Trim the lemongrass stalks by removing the top 2 to 3 inches and the knobby root. Then peel of the tough outer leavers. With the dull edge of a knife, pound one of the stalks from end to end until it begins to soften, but not fall apart. Tie it in a knot. Peel the ginger and chop about 1 tablespoon finely, leaving the rest whole. Transfer the rice, the tied lemongrass, and the whole ginger to a small, heavy saucepan, and add the water, coconut milk and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a slow simmer, cover, and simmer for 40-45 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. After 30 minutes, start checking to see if the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. If the rice is still crunchy and the liquid is low, add a little water and keep cooking. When the rice is done, turn off heat and leave the rice undisturbed for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork before serving.

Finely chop about 2 teaspoons of lemongrass from the intact stalk, using only the tender inner leavers, peel and chop the garlic, and de-string the sugar snap peas. In a wok or large skillet, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped ginger, lemongrass and garlic and sauté until fragrant, but not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sugar snap peas and sauté until bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cooked rice to the wok or skillet and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately, garnishing with sprigs of fresh cilantro.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
This entry was posted in healthy. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

  • Buy My Books



  • Shop Chronicle Books

    Cookbook

  • Archives


  • Categories


  • Connect with Vanessa

    Twitter Facebook RSS

    Enter your email address to
    receive my blog posts via email:
    Delivered by FeedBurner

  • Copyright Information

    The recipes and images on this site belong to Vanessa Barrington. Feel free to link here and if you’d like to use a recipe or image, please ask permission first. Thank you.