I really can’t tell you what I was thinking this morning, but I decided to try something outside the square. I wanted vegetables for breakfast. With rice. Asian style! What I got was delicious and well worth a blog post.
[ SERVES: 2 | TIME: 40 MINUTES | COST: $3 ]
[ JOES' RATING: 4 / 5 | MY RATING: 5 / 5 ]
Ingredients – Vegetables
4 bunches of young bok choy
4 baby corn ears
½ zucchini, sliced
½ cup snow peas
Ingredients – Sauce
¼ cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon teriyaki sauce
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon garlic
Ingredients – Rice
½ cup uncooked brown rice
1½ cups chicken stock
Methods
- In a small pot, cook the rice in the chicken stock using the absorption method. This will take 20 – 30 minutes. Add water if more moisture is required.
- In a small pot, blanch all the vegetables in hot water. No vegetables should be submerged in hot water for more than 3 minutes.
- Warm the chicken stock to be used for the sauce. In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Place rice in a bowl and arrange the vegetables over the top.
- Pour over a little sauce over the dish just as it is being served.
- Enjoy hot and fresh.
Observations
- I am such a massive fan of hot vegetables and brown rice. The snow peas were a huge hit for Joe and I. Sweet, tender, delicious. You really should give this a try!
- Cooking the rice in stock adds a totally new dimension to boring old rice. If possible, use your own chicken stock.
- I love to look at how other cultures eat. My heritage is Maltese so I was raised to look at vegetables as being an evening meal thing. Asian cultures, however, look at vegetables and rice as a staple and eat both at almost all meals. Eating this heavier than normal meal for breakfast kept me full until way past lunchtime. Something definitely worth exploring here.
- Diabetic Note: This meal could have been more diabetic friendly by using Basmati rice but I just can’t pull myself away from brown rice. It’s just so darn delicious. As a result, I have to be very careful with my serving sizes but that’s easily done. (I just got an extra serve of greens to make up for it!)
- Ethical Note: I adore the ethics of this dish. The rice I purchase is Nimbin Valley Brown Rice. It is local to me and is a dry rice variety (meaning it requires far less water to grow) and as such, has a much lower carbon footprint when compared to other brands. The vegetables I got were purchased locally from a green grocer (rather than a supermarket) and are mostly local in origin. The chicken stock was home-made using off cut chicken bones and wings. All in all, the meal has a greatly reduced ethical footprint which makes me a happy gal!
Three Well Beings
May 31, 2012 at 3:27 am
I wouldn’t ordinarily think of vegetables for breakfast either, but this sounds good to me! I typically don’t eat my breakfast too early anyway. I forget about buying baby corn! Lovely recipe, Rhianna! Debra
Rhianna
May 31, 2012 at 9:56 am
there is something about simple foods that is appealing and sometimes, simple foods sit best on an empty stomach. I’ve learned a long time ago to listen to my body – it usually tells me what I need.
cooktocure
May 31, 2012 at 5:57 am
Lovely! Thank you.
Rhianna
May 31, 2012 at 9:57 am
It was delicious. Cheers for the comment. I <3 comments.
narf77
June 2, 2012 at 10:57 pm
Have you tried congee? I am not a sweet person and only having returned to the breakfast fold a short while ago I wasn’t impressed with sweet alternatives. Congee is a savoury Korean porridge made from overcooked rice and it is eaten extensively. I love mushy overcooked rice! I wonder if it could be made diabetic friendly by using basmati rice?
Rhianna
June 2, 2012 at 11:25 pm
I have to admit I am a little shy of Congee, but I intend on trying it when I go to Sydney for the cookoff in a week or three.
narf77
June 2, 2012 at 11:49 pm
I guess you just don’t think of it as overcooked rice and perhaps think of it as thick rice soup? It ticks all of my savoury morning boxes