Vegetable Rice — Leafy Green Edition

This is one of my “what I eat in a day” type of meals. I call it Vegetable Rice — Leafy Green Edition because there are other editions, too.

As a simple rule of thumb, the total weight of all the ingredients other than the rice is roughly twice the weight of the dried rice. The amount of water is also twice the weight of the rice.

Using this basic ratio, you can try different greens, nuts, herbs, or dried fruits to create a new version each time. For this recipe, however, I recommend using basmati rice, as it cooks much faster than other types of rice.

Makes 6 small servings

Ingredients

• ½ cup walnuts

• 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• ½ tsp salt

• 150 g red onion, thinly sliced

• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

• 1 tsp parsley, finely chopped

• ¼ cup black currants or raisins

• 2 cups water

• 100 g red bell pepper, sliced

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• 150 g baby spinach

Method

1. Toast the walnuts in a dry pan until fragrant. Set them aside.

2. Heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the red onion, ginger, and salt, and sauté until the onion begins to soften.

3. Add the dried fruit and stir briefly.

4. Add the rinsed and drained rice and toasted walnuts. Stir well to combine.

5. Pour in the water and parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 7 minutes.

6. Add the sliced red bell pepper and cover with a lid. Steam it for another 5minutes.

   

7. When the rice is almost done, add the spinach on top.

8. Cover again and let the spinach wilt.

9. Sprinkle with black pepper and gently mix everything together before serving.

   

   A whole big bowl of spinach magically disappears. ✨

   

   If you avoid nuts, simply replace them with ½ cup of pan-fried tofu. A sprinkle of sesame seeds works beautifully, too.