Coconut Rice With Shrimp and Corn

August 21, 2021August 21, 2021 Belinda

This summery, one-pot dish has everything you need: fresh shrimp nestled in creamy coconut rice, with pops of summer corn and basil. Lime cuts through the richness and adds some bright tartness. To easily shave corn kernels off the cob, lay your cob flat on your cutting board. With a chef’s knife, lob off one side. Rotate the cob so that the flat side is on the cutting board and repeat, running around all four sides. Frozen wild shrimp is an excellent weeknight staple, as it thaws and cooks quickly. You can always keep it on hand and thaw just as much as you need, which ensures optimal freshness.

Recipe by Samantha Seneviratne for the New York Times

Serves 4

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
1 small jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
¾ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 ½ cups jasmine rice
1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
1lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
1 ½ cups corn kernels, fresh (from 2 cobs) or frozen
1 lime, zested, then sliced into wedges
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn, plus more for serving

In a large, heavy pot, heat coconut oil over medium. Add the onion, ginger and jalapeño and season with the 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.
Add the rice and sauté for another minute. Then stir in the coconut milk and 1 1/4 cups water. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer but avoid scorching.
Stir in the shrimp and corn, cover again, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp is cooked through and the rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (Add more water by 1/2 cups throughout cooking as needed if the water has been absorbed, but the rice is still too firm.)
Remove from the heat and stir in the lime zest and basil; season to taste with salt. Serve immediately with lime wedges and topped with more basil.

Asian flavors · Dairy-free · Fish · Gluten Free · Rice · Salad

Sesame Salmon Bowls

August 1, 2021August 1, 2021 Belinda

This one-pot meal, which is inspired by chirashi, or Japanese rice and raw fish bowls, features a savory vinegared rice that’s typically served with sushi.
Traditionally, the rice is cooked first, then mixed with vinegar, but here, the rice is cooked in vinegar-seasoned water to eliminate a step. The result is sticky rice that’s tangy and sweet, and a perfect bed for fatty salmon.
The salmon is added toward the end to steam directly on top of the rice for an easy one-pan meal.
Packaged coleslaw is a time saver, eliminating extra knife work.
Make a double batch of the zesty dressing for drizzling over roasted vegetables or green leafy salads the next day.

Recipe by Kay Chun for The New York Times.

Serves 4
¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 ½ cups sushi rice (short-grain white rice), rinsed until water runs clear
1 ½ lbs skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ tsp toasted sesame oil
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp distilled white vinegar
2 tbsp safflower or canola oil
2 tbsp coarsely chopped scallions
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger (from one 2-inch piece)
3 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
8 ounces green coleslaw mix (about 3 packed cups)
1 avocado, halved, pitted and thinly sliced
Torn toasted nori sheets, for garnish (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt; stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the rice and 1 3/4 cups water, and mix well. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, toss salmon with 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil and season with salt. Once rice is tender (after about 20 minutes), arrange salmon in an even layer on top of rice. Cover and steam over low heat until fish is cooked to medium, about 12 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine soy sauce, white vinegar, safflower oil, scallions, ginger and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil. Mix well, and season with salt.

Scoop salmon and rice into bowls. Top each with some cucumbers, coleslaw mix and avocado. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. Top with nori, if using.

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Grains · Holiday Food · Nuts · Rice · Vegetable sides · Vegetable-related

The BEST vegetarian/gluten-free meatloaf

December 26, 2020September 7, 2022 Belinda

This is one of the the best things I’ve tasted in a long time. I made this for our vegetarian son for Christmas and we all preferred it to the meat. Don’t be put off by the ingredients, it’s still pretty easy.

Recipe from food blog, “A couple cooks”

Every now and then you come across a recipe that is a cut above the rest – one that makes everything you’ve made before pale in comparison.
We present: our Vegetarian Meatloaf recipe! This vegetarian meatloaf is made entirely of nuts, rice, mushrooms, onions, herbs, and cheese. Somehow, it all melds into an appearance and texture just like a meatloaf. And it tastes AMAZING. As in, better than the meat version. It’s perfect for dinner parties, as a vegetarian Thanksgiving main dish or for Christmas dinner.
This vegetarian meatloaf is hearty and pleases even the most passionate of meat eaters! It’s a family favorite dinner party recipe.

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice. (I made 1 cup brown basmati rice cooked in vegetable stock, and had leftover rice)
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup cashews
1 good-sized onion
3 cloves garlic
6 oz chestnut/baby bella mushrooms
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried sage
4 large eggs
1 cup full-fat cottage cheese
12 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cook the rice in a broth for more flavor, according the the package instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place 1 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup cashews on a baking sheet and toast for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile, finely chop 1 onion and mince 3 cloves garlic. Clean and finely chop the mushrooms. Finely chop the 2 tablespoons fresh parsley. When the nuts have cooled, finely chop them, ether by hand or in a food processor.

In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon marjoram, 1 teaspoon thyme, and 1 teaspoon sage. Cook about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden. Transfer to a large bowl.

In a small bowl, lightly beat together 4 eggs.

In the large bowl, combine the onion and mushroom mixture with the toasted walnuts and cashews, parsley, 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 cup cottage cheese, 12 ounces Swiss cheese, beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

Butter a 9-inch loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter it again. Pour the mixture from the bowl into the pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown. (Bake longer if not golden brown)
Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert loaf and remove from pan. Slice into pieces and serve warm. Leftovers can be stored for a few day in the refrigerator or a few months in the freezer (cut into pieces).
Reheat in a 350F oven

Gluten Free · Holiday Food · Meat · Rice

Bolognese risotto

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 Belinda

This fabulous, comforting recipe comes from Delicious Magazine.

“If it’s comfort food you’re on the lookout for, then you’ve landed on the right recipe. Two of our favorite go-to dishes, bolognese and risotto, have been combined to make a cheesy, rich and comforting bolognese risotto bake. We’ve used a good dash of Worcestershire sauce too, for bags of flavor.”

SERVES 6-8

Vegetable oil for frying
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2″(2cm) dice
2 red peppers, chopped into 1/2″(2cm) dice
2 tbsp tomato purée
300g risotto rice (such as arborio)
150ml red wine
400g ground beef
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
750ml beef stock
100ml whole (full fat) milk
100g grated mozzarella (the dry kind for cooking) or a sharp cheddar

Heat the oven to 400F/ 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
In a large wide hob-safe braiser, heat a glug of oil, then add the onion, garlic, carrots and peppers. Cook on a medium-high heat, stirring regularly, for 10 minutes. The vegetables should start to soften and color a little. Season with salt and pepper, then add the tomato purée and rice.
Stir over the heat for 2-3 minutes until the rice starts to turn translucent.

Turn up the heat to high and add the red wine. Let the wine bubble and reduce, stirring all the time. Once the wine has reduced by about half, add the ground beef and break up into the rice and vegetables.
Lower the heat to low-medium, stir in the chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and half the stock, then bring to a gentle simmer.
Slowly add the remainder of the stock and the milk, little by little, stirring all the time as the risotto thickens. This should take 40-50 minutes.

Once the rice is just al dente (firm to the bite), scatter the grated cheese in an even layer over the rice. Transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and turned golden and the risotto is bubbling.

Tips
Regularly stir the risotto to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan, adding enough water to make sure it’s your preferred consistency.

Gluten Free · Rice · Vegetable-related

Tomato rice with crispy cheddar cheese

November 13, 2020November 13, 2020 Belinda

Recipe from Priya Krishna

“I could use all sorts of fancy words to explain this dish, but the best description is this: pizza in rice form. The inspiration for the recipe, though, is oddly enough not Italian — it’s a hybrid of a classic South Indian tomato rice with onions and a shockingly fantastic Spanish rice recipe my mom and I photocopied out of my seventh-grade Spanish textbook for a school project. The crispy, bubbly, broiled Cheddar topping (use the sharpest Cheddar you can find!) adds a little something something, making it a worthy dinner party dish.”

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 small Indian green chili or Serrano chili, finely chopped
10 plum tomatoes (about 2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 1 (28-ounce) can whole or diced tomatoes, strained
1 tsp kosher salt
3 cups cooked basmati rice (from about 1 cup dry rice)
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Adjust an oven rack to the highest position and heat the oven to 500 degrees.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the onion and chili, spread them out in an even layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent and starts to lightly char, 5 to 7 minutes.

Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes, using the back of a wooden spoon to lightly crush them. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down into a chunky sauce, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the salt and remove from heat.

Stir in the cooked rice and transfer to an 8-inch square (or similar size) baking dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top in an even layer.

Switch the oven to broil and place the baking dish on the oven rack closest to the broiler.
Broil until the top bubbles and turns golden brown, about 3 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Asian flavors · Dessert · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Holiday Food · Rice

Coconut, rum and raisin rice pudding

September 6, 2020September 7, 2022 Belinda

This is a fabulous dessert from Barney Desmazery in the BBC Good Food Magazine.
When posting non-American recipes I am now keeping the metric system as it’s far more accurate.
It’s worth investing in kitchen scales that have metric as well.Most of the measuring cups are both these days, so they are easy to find

50g butter
150g short-grain (pudding) rice
150g golden caster sugar (Bakers or superfine sugar for the USA)
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
300ml double cream , plus a little extra
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the rum & raisin syrup
150ml spiced rum
100g muscovado sugar (It’s a dark molasses-y sugar available on Amazon)
100g raisins

For the rum & raisin syrup, tip all the ingredients into a large saucepan and heat gently over a low heat for 5 mins, or until the sugar has dissolved and created a syrup and the raisins have plumped up. Tip into a bowl, cover and set aside.

In the same saucepan (there’s no need to clean it) melt the butter over a medium heat until sizzling, then scatter over the rice and toast in the hot butter until the butter is just starting to brown. Stir in the sugar, then pour over the coconut milk, cream and vanilla. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook gently for 40-45 mins until the rice is tender, adding a splash more cream if it becomes too thick.

To serve hot, stir a third of the rum & raisin syrup through the pudding and spoon the rest over the top. To serve cold, leave the pudding to cool, then chill in the fridge to firm up so that you can serve it in scoops with the rum & raisin syrup spooned over.

Asian flavors · Dairy-free · Do-ahead · Meat · Rice

Cantonese Beef Rice Bowls

August 17, 2020February 8, 2023 Belinda1 Comment

I keep 3 or 4 1lb packages of organic ground beef in the freezer for those “What am I going to cook today?” sort of days. Here is another lovely recipe with a difference from food blog “The Woks of Life” I highly recommend the blog too.

Cantonese beef rice bowls are made with browned ground beef, simmered in stock, spices, oyster sauce, soy sauce simmered to perfection and served over rice.

1 tbsp oil
1lb ground beef (450g)
1 medium onion (finely diced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
1 cup chicken stock (590 ml)
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp cornstarch (mixed with 2 tablespoons water)
steamed rice (to serve)

Heat a wok over high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the ground beef and cook until slightly browned, breaking up any large chunks of beef. Add the onion, garlic, and Shaoxing wine, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook until the onion is translucent, and then add the chicken stock.
Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Stir in the oyster and soy sauces, sesame oil, and white pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cover, add the peas, and stir-fry for one minute.
Stir up the cornstarch slurry (since the starch will separate from the water when left to sit), and drizzle the slurry into the sauce while stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken until it coats a spoon. If it’s not thick enough, add more cornstarch slurry (a couple teaspoons at a time) or simply let the sauce simmer and reduce a bit longer. If it’s too thick, add a bit of water. You can make these adjustments until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.
Serve over steamed rice!

Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Rice

Dirty Thai fried rice

August 6, 2020September 7, 2022 Belinda

Recipe from Mandy Lee of food blog, “Lady&Pups”

This is a wonderful Southeast Asian take on dirty rice adding shrimp paste, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Although less common in supermarkets, shrimp paste is paramount in developing a complex, funky and savory aroma/taste that makes Southeast Asian dishes so robust and relentlessly addictive. (It’s available on Amazon)

Serves 2-4

4 oz (110 grams) of chicken liver

2 stalks (60 grams) of lemongrass (white parts only), diced

3 small Asian shallots, diced

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 tbsp of ginger, diced

2 kaffir lime leaves, tough ribs removed

1 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of Thai Shrimp paste

1/2 tsp of ground white pepper

3 cups (450 grams) of cooked rice (preferably jasmine rice), cooled or 1 day-old

1 cup (175 grams) of peeled and deveined shrimps

2 large eggs

1 tbsp of fish sauce, divided in half

1 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of old bay seasoning and dried chili flakes

2 ~ 3 thin scallions, finely diced or cut into thin strips

Trim off any unwanted fat-tissues attached, then soak the chicken liver in milk for a few hours to overnight, to draw out excess blood. Drain off the milk and add the liver to a blender, along with diced lemongrass, Asian shallots, garlic, ginger, kaffir lime leaves (the soft leaf-parts only), soy sauce, shrimp paste and ground white pepper. Blend until smooth and pureed (the livers and vegetables should emit enough liquid to blend). Heat up 3 tbsp of oil in a skillet over high heat, then cook the paste until slightly browned, approx 3 min. The paste should lose most of the liquid. Set aside (can be made the day ahead).

Mix 1/2 tbsp of fish sauce together with soy sauce, then set aside. Mix the remaining 1/2 tbsp of fish sauce with shrimps with a bit of cracked black pepper, set aside. Beat the eggs only slightly, and have all the rest of the components ready on the side.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over high heat, and cook the shrimps until just cooked through, then remove from the skillet. Add another 1 tbsp of oil and add the slightly beaten eggs. Scramble with a spatula until 1/2 of the eggs are cooked with the other 1/2 still runny. Add the rice right now so it can be partially coated with the runny eggs.

Once the rice is added, add another 2 tbsp of oil and the fish sauce/soy sauce mixture, then quickly but gently break up the rice with wooden spatula, fold and cook over high heat until some of the eggs are slightly browned. The faster you fry the rice, the shinier and prettier it will remain (so the higher the heat, the better). Now add the liver paste, cooked shrimp, old bay seasoning and dried chili fakes, and scallions. Fold and cook only for a min until fragrant, and evenly incorporated.

Transfer to a serving dish immediately and serve.