Rice and Vegetables — Vegetable Rice Side Dish Recipe

Name: Rice and Vegetables — Vegetable Rice Side Dish Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Rice (parboiled) 200 g; Green peas and green beans 100 g; Broccoli 100 g; Carrot 1; Sweetcorn (canned) 1 can; Onion 1; Garlic 1-2 cloves; Salt, ground white pepper, dried herbs to taste; Olive oil to taste

Rice is the most important grain on the planet, the staple food of whole countries and continents. Historically, in our part of the world rice has simply been filed under “groats”. It is mostly exported from warm countries with a hot, humid climate. Just some 20 years ago, in the days of a country that no longer exists, people divided rice into two kinds: the one that “cooks to mush” and the one that “doesn't”.

It never occurred to anyone that there are countless varieties of rice, each with its own properties. We just weren't used to it. Our main grains were pearl barley, semolina and peas — pea soup, after all, is very nearly the first among first courses. Still, a simple rice soup has always been respected, and kharcho soup wouldn't really work without rice.

In countries where vegetarianism is traditional — for ethical, religious or economic reasons, or more often simply out of personal conviction — rice is used in cooking very widely. Rice is good for you in general, and for medical purposes even more so. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people eat polished (white) rice, and polishing removes the nutrients along with the husk.

Rice is recommended for people who are overweight.

Its low content of salts and fibre and high content of B vitamins help the body resist various illnesses. At the same time, rice is almost pure starch — which means it is very nourishing.

In Asia, a hugely popular food is fried rice, quick and simple to make. In Italy it is risotto, a dish of the people. And all over the world people love pilaf, rice with meat and so on.

As I know from experience, when there is a choice of side dish — mashed potatoes or rice — people always go for the potatoes. A pity! Well-cooked rice as a side, especially with vegetables and well-balanced spices, is far tastier. It is always something distinctive and surprising, especially when the rice and the vegetables go together in harmony. A recipe for rice with vegetables is something I have already published.

There is nothing difficult about cooking vegetable rice — rice and vegetables that can be a dish in its own right and not just a side. It is no harder than making a plain risotto with onion. All you need is the vegetables, and while they are braising, you cook some fluffy rice.

Ingredients

2 servings

Rice (parboiled) 200 g
Green peas and green beans 100 g
Broccoli 100 g
Carrot 1
Sweetcorn (canned) 1 can
Onion 1
Garlic 1-2 cloves
Salt, ground white pepper, dried herbs to taste
Olive oil to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Before you start on the vegetables, cook the rice. You want rice that stays fluffy — parboiled is best, the kind sold here as “steamed”. Basmati will do too, and is probably even better, since basmati is very fragrant on its own. Don't take sticky varieties, or you will end up with porridge, and definitely don't use the nameless stuff labelled simply “Rice” that fills the shop shelves.
Be sure to rinse the rice under cold running water so that all the cloudiness — caused by the so-called “rice flour” in polished rice — washes away. Bring water to the boil in a saucepan. You need twice as much water as rice: for one cup of rice, two cups of water. Salt the water to taste. Pour the rice into the boiling water, stir and leave it covered on the lowest heat, so that the liquid barely simmers. Rice soaks up water eagerly, as it is almost all starch. As soon as the rice has absorbed all the water, it is done. This usually takes 18-20 minutes. Take the rice off the heat and transfer it to a deep bowl. Cover it so that it doesn't dry out.
A cast-iron wok with a lid is very handy for cooking rice and vegetables. An amazing pan.
Pour 3 tbsp of olive oil into the wok and heat it well. Peel the garlic and crush the cloves with a knife. Fry the garlic in the oil to flavour it. Then carefully take the garlic out and discard it.
Peel the onion and the carrot. If the onion is large, cut it into big cubes; if the onions are tiny — onion sets — you can leave them whole. Cut the carrot fairly coarsely.
Fry the onion and carrot in the flavoured oil until soft. As soon as the vegetables start to colour, season with salt and ground white pepper and add a couple of pinches of dried aromatic herbs — mint, savory, basil, oregano. Dried herb blends work very well — Provencal or Mediterranean.
Add the frozen green peas and the green beans, which people here mistakenly call “asparagus”. Fry all the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the contents of a can of sweetcorn. The size of the can is up to you; I will only say that there is no such thing as too much — tried and tested!
After 5 minutes add the broccoli florets. Fry for 5-6 minutes, then pour in about half a cup of boiling water or vegetable stock and braise under the lid. All the vegetables, especially the carrot and the green peas, should become completely soft. This takes up to 15 minutes. If a little liquid is left in the wok, take the lid off and let the water evaporate.
Add the cooked fluffy rice to the wok. Mix the rice and vegetables thoroughly.
If needed, add more salt and pepper to the rice and vegetables. Then let the whole dish steam under the lid on a low heat for 10 minutes.
The rice and vegetables — vegetable rice — are ready! You can eat it as a completely self-sufficient dish, or serve it as a side with meat or fish.