Tag Archives: rice

Jeweled Rice

Not that I’d have a special insight into Persian kitchen, but this recipe appealed to me so much, that I decided to simply let myself inspired by its flavors and colors.

And it’s wasn’t difficult at all 🙂 I used the raw pieces of cinnamon and cardamon and a handful of pumpkin seeds to boil them over the pressure cooker along with the basmati rice . When the cooker cooled out enough, I transferred the rice into a bowl and immediately added the orange blossom water and the hot saffron water so there’s enough fluffiness while for adding the rest of the ingredients. As they follow:

  • freshly grated carrots
  • a handful of cranberries and a few raisins
  • more pumpkin seeds, soaked or pistacchio
  • pomegranate seeds
  • ghee (look for organic one)
  • 7 spices mix (you can do it yourself, just put an emphasis on cinnamon)
  • grated orange peel on top

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For serving I used fresh leaves of lettuce and sorrel, for its sour lemony taste. That’s about it. The result was a true delight of hues and flavors, that revealed one by one, just like the motifs of an arabesque unfold to their true depth as you look further more.

Marinated Mushrooms

Either way you take it, mushrooms are great. Some of them taste light enough to have them raw – like champignons – while others require cooking as they’re a bit heavy. Have you ever thought of saving their  natural enzymes while having the best taste? *

There’s one easy procedure to do that – it’s called marinating and it refers to the changes of taste and texture undergone by food during long hours spent in a seasoned acidic liquid. I usually use olive oil, lemon juice and soya sauce and then add dry thyme, garlic or even dates – for a sweet twist. You can think of spices such as ground turmeric, nutmeg or cumin, but just be sure you don’t get all exotic; unless you really master tastes & flavors! My new favorite seasoning for the mushroom marinade is sweet smoked paprika – it just builds up so much taste! (most probably reminiscent of bacon aroma :))

Once you start adding the composition to the mushrooms (if there’s not enough liquid, just add water) you’ll see how they turn tender and shrink.  Leave the marinade overnight in cool place or in the fridge and then add it to your favorite salad.

list of ingredients

  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • soya sauce
  • optional: dry thyme, crushed garlic, turmeric, nutmeg, cumin, dates

Here are a few ideas for some truly gourmet raw mushroom dishes:

Like any other respectable protein, the mushrooms get along very well with carrots 🙂 Feel free to experiment any dish with these two, along with your favorite greens. Lots of greens.

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And this is how the pretty forest mushrooms in the above picture turned out: a dish with shredded cauliflower & carrot, red peppers, turmeric and salvia leaves.

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A sample of the smoked paprika marinade, mixed with whole grain brown rice and served with green onions.

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And another sample of a different marinade, made out of soya sauce, dates (crushed or paste) and only a bit of lemon. This is how red onions look like after spending some time in this thick liquid.

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* special warning

if your mushrooms are picked up from the forest, be sure to check if they require to be cooked over heat. some of them might be poisonous when raw!

Cauliflower Forever

Most of the people are simply astonished when they have raw cauliflower. Wow, it’s so great! but…what is it? rice….or cheese? If you’re not familiar with it, you literally have no idea what is that you’re eating. We of course owe it all to the food processor, able to break down the cauliflower into tiny white pieces resembling rice. You can do it by hand as well, but the result will be slightly different.

I haven’t yet discovered a better and faster recipe than the cauliflower rice.  It goes like this: you shred the cauliflower in your food processor and you mix it with peas, corn (both fresh or frozen) pepper (capia or capsicum) and green onion/garlic. In case you want to add some greens, I totally recommend lovage or dill. Make a basic dressing out of olive oil and lemon juice and that’s it. Now you can enjoy the best summer salad!

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Another vegetable that goes pretty well with cauliflower is carrot. I’ve used it in this thai version of the cauliflower rice. The whole idea is to make a coconut based dressing, keeping everything else the same. For this you would ideally need coconut cream or milk (I use Renuka or Biona brand as it doesn’t have any additives). You can also add shredded coconut or coconut flakes directly into the salad, but be aware it will draw in all the liquid, so you might have to add some more in a few minutes. The perfect seasoning is curry, mild or hot, and fresh basil. In the picture I’ve served it with sunflower seeds pate spread on bell pepper.

list of ingredients

  • cauliflower
  • peas
  • corn (if not fresh, see that it doesn’t have added  sugar)
  • pepper/capsicum
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt

optional:

  • green onion/garlic
  • lovage/dill
  • coconut milk or cream
  • shredded coconut
  • curry
  • fresh basil