Brown Rice & Bananas

This dish contains more than brown rice and bananas, but since they are my favourite part of this recipe they get to star in the title! More often than not, by the end of the week I am left with bananas that will never make the trip to work without becoming too battered and bruised for my taste. Generally I toss them in the freezer for a future banana bread making frenzy - it's nice to make a few loaves or pans of muffins all at once (that recipe is upcoming, I just need to upload the picture!) - but sometimes I like to put them to another use.

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I just love the sweetness of the banana with the other savoury ingredients in this dish. The array of different textures is also very pleasing as is the satisfaction of knowing you are nourishing your body well with healthy food!

Brown Rice & Bananas

• 1 cup sweet, short grain brown rice (I just love all forms of sticky rice, but feel free to use any plain old brown rice for this)
• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium sized sweet potato, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 medium or large onion, diced (I just used a regular spanish onion, but a sweet variety would be great!)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (some chopped fresh chiles would be great instead, just add to taste)
• 1-2 bananas, sliced

Cook rice in a pot on the stove top or in a rice cooker. Meanwhile, chop up all ingredients except for the bananas.

When the rice is almost done, heat your olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the sweet potato first and sauté until soft, stirring often. Next, add the onion and red pepper flakes, sauté until all is slightly browned, stirring often. Add the garlic and sauté for about 2 more minutes, still stirring often.

Turn down the heat to low and stir in the rice. Once well incorporated, add the sliced bananas, stir again, remove from heat and serve.

**One thing to note: the bananas will not reheat well. If you plan to have leftovers just add the bananas to the rice once plated.

Enjoy!

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa (keen-wa or keen-oa) is a grain that I wish I would have learned about earlier in life. This super food (almost a perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids) was known as the "Mother Grain" to the Incas and has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years! Since my boyfriend is half Peruvian we figure this grain definitely has a place in our diet! But even if you don't share the same heritage as quinoa you should really consider giving it a shot if you've never tried it. Here's a recipe, you won't be disappointed:

Quinoa Salad

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup sliced mini sweet peppers (you could use chopped bell peppers instead)
• 1/2 cup black beans (canned or already soaked and cooked)
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup kale, chopped and lightly sautéed
• half an onion, diced and sautéed until translucent
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• chopped jalapenos or serranos - to taste (optional)

Rinse quinoa well and add to a small saucepan with one cup of water (scant 2:1 water to quinoa - so a little less than double the amount of water to the amount of quinoa). Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let cook until most or all of the water is absorbed and the quinoa pops - it will look like the quinoa grew a little white curly tail - see picture! If you are unsure just give it a taste to see if you like the texture. I have found that cooking quinoa in my rice cooker works really well - if you got one, use it!

Meanwhile, sauté onions first, adding kale when onions are almost done. When the quinoa is finished, drain if necessary and immediately squeeze on the lime juice. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine and serve. This salad is also great cold or reheated. I really like bringing this to work for lunch. The bright colours, varied textures and flavours really appeal to me. The beans make this a hearty and filling dish too. It is just so good for you. Try it today and enjoy!

Wild Rice Risotto

A couple weeks ago we had some friends over for dinner who are from Bulgaria. When they invited us to their house for dinner Slavy made a very delicious and excitingly ethnic array of Bulgarian food for us to sample. When it was their turn to come over for dinner we really wanted to offer some dishes that had a Canadian twist and hopefully something they hadn't had the chance to try before.

I come from a lake town in Northwestern Ontario. There, along the shoreline in certain places, grows wild rice. Given this, I generally have a small store of it in my cupboard. Besides maple syrup, wild rice is very Canadian - and better yet it symbolizes "home" for me - so it was something special and personal I wanted to share with our new friends as they had been so generous when they invited us to their home. Wild rice has a great nutty flavour, is great with poultry and game, and luckily for us, I have the tastier "wild" version (rather than cultivated).

I served the wild rice risotto with a herbed roasted chicken and roasted vegetables - just the thing for a cold Canadian winter dinner! That oven always warms up the kitchen so nicely - as well as warming up my appetite!

So, here is my recipe, it's pretty simple to whip up and I can guarantee that you'll like it. I used a variety of mushrooms that I found at the supermarket - but if you have access to wild mushrooms, I think that would make this dish very special.

Wild Rice Risotto
Serves 6-8 as a side dish

• 900 ml chicken or vegetable broth (always opt for the low-sodium if you don't have homemade)
• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1 cup Arborio rice (you may use a short or medium-grained white rice if you can't find this)
• 3-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small to medium sized onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms (I used brown button, portobello and cremini)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup freshly grated Asiago (you can use more or less depending on your preferences. Parmigiano-Reggiano would also be nice, but I adore Asiago and it's cheaper than fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• 2 Tbsp fresh, chopped parsley
• salt and pepper

In a medium-sized saucepan cover the wild rice with water by a good inch. You may use broth instead, just remember to buy extra, beyond the 900 ml called for in this recipe. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer over low heat for 45-50 minutes, or until some of the rice has "popped" and is slightly soft. It will still be slightly chewy - you do not want to cook it until it is all popped or else it will be watery and mushy. Drain.

Heat stock in a saucepan and keep it at a low simmer on the side - you will need the stock to be hot when you add it to the Arborio rice.

In a large heavy-bottomed skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions and mushrooms for a few minutes, or until the onions are soft, then add the garlic. Add the Arborio rice, stirring to coat with oil. Stirring often, let it cook for about 2 minutes or until you see a white spot in the middle of the grains of rice. Pour in the wine, letting it bubble away until the wine is absorbed.

Add a ladle full of broth with some of the wild rice and let it cook until it is absorbed, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn't stick. Add another ladle full of broth with some wild rice and again let it absorb, again stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick. Repeat.

After about 20 minutes of cooking time taste the Arborio rice to see if it is al dente (tender, but still slightly firm to the bite). Add some salt and pepper. If it not yet al dente, continue cooking, stirring and adding broth until it is. General cooking time is between 25-35 minutes. If you run out of broth you may use hot water, but you need not use up all the hot broth if the rice is done. Just make sure you get all the wild rice in there!

Remove from heat and stir in the butter, cheese and parsely. Serve immediately and Enjoy!