It's that time of year! We all try to tighten the belt so to speak (yes, me included), at least for a little bit, to try and knock off some of those seasonal pounds we seem to pick up between Thanksgiving and New Year celebrations. So many wonderful treats - it's really hard not to! Being a food blogger only makes it worse, and combine that with a food blog about southern food and well, y'all can imagine. So, I'll be posting a few of my favorite lower carb, lower fat, lighter recipes in between the usual classic southern favorites.
Brown rice is one of my favorites because not only is it healthier nutritionally speaking than white rice, but it also has a nice nutty flavor and a chewier texture that seem to make it more satisifying. Alone though, it can be, well, a little dull. So while this is really a non-recipe recipe, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite ways to bring brown rice up a notch.
Since brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice, generally I prefer to make a big batch in my rice cooker all at once and then keep some of it in the fridge to add to a lunch wrap, or for a side dish at dinnertime with another veggie, and then I often freeze portions of it.
For this dish, you simply saute some onion and green and red bell peppers in a bit of olive oil. Once that is nicely softened, stir in the cooked brown rice, season it with a bit of salt, pepper and one of my favorite ingredients, red curry powder and just let it cook, stirring occasionally, until it is mixed well and warmed through. You can really experiment with some of your own favorite seasonings - I often add a dash or three of my favorite Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning just to give it a bit of punch.
Voila.. jazzed up brown rice. Pretty darned good if I don't say so myself! Enjoy.
