Recipe Review 9/7/09

Some awesome recipes this week! The first one I've included some additional recipes for cooking the rice and lentils. This is a great vegan and gluten free dish.

Foolproof Oven Baked Brown Rice (Cooks Illustrated, Issue #68)
1 1/2 cups long-, medium-, or short-grain brown rice
2 1/3 cups water
2 tsp unsalted butter or vegetable oil
salt

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375*. Spread rice in 8" square glass baking dish.

2) Bring water and butter or oil to boil; covered, in medium saucepan over high heat; once boiling stir in salt (optional) and immediately pour over rice. Cover baking dish tightly with double layer of foil. Bake rice 50 minutes to 1 hour.

3) Remove baking dish from oven and uncover. Fluff rice with dinner fork and cover with clean kitchen towel and let stand 5 minutes. Uncover and let stand 5 minutes more. Serve.

My notes:
Skip butter/oil. Just spray or wipe casserole dish with butter or oil.
My oven only takes 50 minutes. I remove and let stand, covered, 5 or 10 minutes; then fluff and use.
Options - boil vegetable broth or chicken broth instead of water; or do 1 cup brown rice and 1/2 wild rice (rinsed).
Leftover rice can be frozen and used later.

Lentils
1/2 cup lentils
1 1/2 cups water

Check lentils for sticks and stones
Combine water and beans.
Bring to a rolling simmer; cook +/- 45 minutes, covered or partially covered (to prevent boil-over. Most of the water will evaporate/be soaked up. I like to cook about 30-40 minutes, then turn off heat and cover. Drain excess water off just before using.

Rice and Lentil Salad (Eating Well, Sept/Oct 09)
Prepare rice and lentils as described above. Start rice, then start lentils. Both will be done about same time. Both can stand and wait if the other isn't quite finished.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp finely chopped shallot
1/2 tsp paprika (smoked paprika if you have it)
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Whisk together and set aside.

2 cups cooked rice
15 oz can lentils (rinsed and drained) OR cooked lentils from above (all of them)
1 diced carrot
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

Combine. Add vinaigrette from above and toss together.

Makes 3-4 servings.

My notes:
Cooked lentils are cheaper and you can make them at the same time as the rice. Can be served warm, room temp; or cold. I used swiss chard instead of carrot, using the whole stem and leaf so you can be creative on what veggie you add. Use what you have on hand: tomato, carrots, celery, spinach, etc.

I made this twice this past week: once for my lunches and again for a yoga studio staff potluck. It was hard to say how it was received as there were SO MANY good dishes. I did bring home a small tub of leftovers. Yay! More for me!




Shrimp Etouffee (Cooking Light, Sept 09)
I've linked to this recipe above. This was just excellent and fairly quick and easy. Make sure everything is "mise en place" so the cooking goes smoothly. This makes a lovely thick seafood stew which was just perfect for these shorter days and cooler evenings. I would recommend the addition of a splash of hot sauce at the end for those of you who like a bit more heat and flavor to your dishes.

My main changes included: I used 1/2 lb wild caught shrimp and a leftover frozen package of scallops. I also used Swiss Chard instead of celery, adding the whole stem and leaf. It added such a pretty color to the rest of the stew. Red bell pepper instead of green - I like the color and taste better. If your leery of the clam juice, don't been. It adds a great seafood background flavor that highlights the rest of the dish.

I served it over the leftover brown and wild rice I had made for the Lentil and Rice Salad.