Today was a big snowday here in NYC so yesterday before I went home I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a few ingredients so I could prep food all day. First off, I was shocked at how cheap the veggies were! I usually buy my produce at a different store, but the weather has been so cold that I haven't wanted to venture out as that store is about a 10 minute walk from my house. As you can see from my receipt I spent $1.80 for veggies in this meal + 3 additional salads (One which is the Kale + Avocado Salad). The other ingredients I used in this recipe I already had in my house as I use them quite frequently.
When I set out on this dish I was looking for something healthy and easy for me to prepare, so I made a dish where I only needed to dirty one pot (because I'm lazy and don't want to wash them). The directions below will make 1 large meal or 2 medium sized meals. I set out to only make enough for one meal, but it quickly grew larger than I had planned, however everything is healthy and natural so I ate the lot.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried rice
1/2 zucchini
1 small parsnip
5 kale leaves
3 scallions
salt
cumin
oregano
tahini
olive oil
*all spices were to taste*
Directions:
1. Cook rice
- the rice I used (Lundberg Heirloom Brown Long Grain Rice), according to the instructions it needed to cook for 45 minutes, so I split that up into 3 different increments.
- use a medium - large pot as you will have many veggies inside before the end.
- round 1: I cooked rice in water with a touch of olive oil + salt for 20 minutes
2. Add Veggies
- I cubed the zucchini + parsnip, and threw in the white part of the scallions, salt, cumin, oregano, 1/8 cup of water, and another splash of olive oil
- round 2: I cooked this for 10 minutes
3. Add Kale
- I stirred the rice + veggie mixture
- Added 1/8 cup of water, the green part of the scallions, a small spoon full of tahini, and a little more cumin + salt; and stir.
- Place kale on top of the rice mixture (DO NOT STIR), this will steam the kale.
- round 3: cook for 15 mintues
4. Stir
- When you take the lid off the pot you'll notice the kale has wilted down, stir together everything and taste.
- Mine was not ready so I cooked it another 10 minutes, but if your rice is fully cooked then remove from heat and serve.
Tips:
I realized that the zucchini and parsnips became very malleable and made the rice mixture creamy like a risotto, which I think you can somewhat gather in the photos.
There was no butter, cream, or cheese in this but it was so creamy and flavorful that you would never know.
I realized that the zucchini and parsnips became very malleable and made the rice mixture creamy like a risotto, which I think you can somewhat gather in the photos.
There was no butter, cream, or cheese in this but it was so creamy and flavorful that you would never know.
