Wild rice salad with mushrooms, cranberries and almonds

Dear all!!! First of all I wish everybody a very happy New Year and hope you all enjoyed your holidays! We had some quit but nice days at home as with both families so far away, we weren’t able to see them these holidays. But we have big plans for the new year and will hopefully see all soon again.
Coming to the recipe today- Wild rice is a nutritious, healthy grain for which we recently acquired a liking. It is nice as a side dish or like in this recipe, as a salad. Have a very nice day…!!

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups wild rice
- 3 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp. Canola oil
- 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- ½ cup chopped almonds, lightly toasted in a pan
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- Juice of ½ lemon
- handful Italian parsley leaves, chopped
- 1 Tsp.cumin powder
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste

Method:

In a medium sauce pot heat 1 Tbsp. oil and add rice. Stir until well coated. Add the vegetable broth and let come to a boil. Simmer on medium heat for about 50 minutes or until almost all liquid is absorbed. Take off heat and let cool.
In a pan heat rest of oil and add shallot. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then add mushrooms and cook for some minutes till soft. Season with salt and black pepper. Take off heat.
In a bowl combine rice, almonds, cranberries, mushrooms, lemon juice, cumin, salt, black pepper and parsley. Mix well and serve at room temperature.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Mushroom and chard risotto

Hello to everybody!!! I hope all had a nice weekend and a nice Halloween. We didn’t do much as we were still recovering from this stubborn cold. Luckily we are better now. Coming to the recipe today, risotto is an Italian rice dish, made with special coarse grain rice. I had planned to make risotto for a long time as I didn’t have it for ages. Since I bought mushrooms and chard at the farmers market, I thought of combining these vegetables in the risotto. It turned out really tasty and had a nice earthy flavour. Hope you will enjoy it as we did. :-) Have a nice week…!!!

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 4 cups vegetable stock/broth
- 10-12 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 bunch rainbow chard, strunks removed and cut in strips
- ¼ cup half & half
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste

Method:

In a large pot heat 2 Tbsp. butter with olive oil. Add onion and garlic and fry till translucent. Add the rice and mix well. Every grain should be coated with butter/oil. Add one ladle of vegetable broth and stir well. Wait till the rice has absorbed the liquid and then add the next ladle. Stir well again and wait till the rice has absorbed the liquid, while stirring occasionally. Continue doing this till all broth is absorbed by the rice. In the meantime heat rest of the butter in a pan. Add the mushrooms and chard and fry for about 5-7 minutes. Add the half & half and cook for 2-3 minutes. After the rice has absorbed all liquid, add the vegetables and lemon juice and mix well. Add salt and black pepper and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the Parmesan and mix well. Turn off heat, cover the pot and let stand for couple of minutes before serving.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Tomato-sesame rice

This rice dish is easy and quick to make and is a favourite in our house. It is great for using up leftover rice and when I make rice I almost always make more just to make this dish later. :-) Of course you can make it with fresh rice as well. It makes a whole meal by itself and we mostly have it with just some raita.

Ingredients:

- 6 cups boiled basmati rice
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Sesame seeds
- 1 Tsp. Black mustard seeds
- 1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
- 3 Tbsp. Grated coconut
- 1 Tsp. Coriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp. Peanuts
- Pinch hing/asafoetida
- ¼ Tsp. Turmeric
- Red chilli powder to taste
- Salt to taste
- 2 Tbsp. Sesame oil

Method:

In a pan roast peanuts, coconut, sesame seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and coriander seeds till golden brown. Make sure not to burn it. Then grind into a coarse powder. In a large pan heat the oil and add hing and the onions. Fry till translucent, then add the tomatoes, spice powder, salt and red chilli powder. Cook till tomatoes are mushy then add the rice and mix well. Serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Raisin pulav with pumpkin seeds

Pulav is one of our favourite rice dishes and hence we eat it frequently. Traditionally the rice is fried in ghee or oil and then boiled in water with spices and vegetables. I usually make it with leftover rice since it’s a simple way to make use of it. It is quick and easy to make but still very tasty. I normally use green peas and corn but feel free to mix it up with other vegetables.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups leftover basmati rice
- 1 Tsp. black mustard seeds
- 1 cup corn and green peas
- 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds or more
- 1/ 8 cup raisins or more
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 Tsp. curry powder
- 1 Tbsp. ghee or oil
- 3 green cardamom pods
- Salt to taste
- ¼ Tsp. turmeric
- Pinch hing/asafoetida

Method:

In a large saucepan heat the ghee/oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the hing/asafoetida, turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Fry for some seconds till it gives out a nice aroma. Add corn and peas and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin seeds and raisins and cook for one more minute. Add the rice and mix well. Add in salt and curry powder and mix well that all blends together nicely. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected.Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.