Simple Swiss Chard

By: THERESA_M Posted in AllRecipes.com (Source)

Prep Time: 10 Min

Cook Time: 10 Min

Ready In: 20 Min

Original Recipe Yield 2 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stalks discarded, leaves cut into wide ribbons
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil on a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until tender and aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and balsamic vinegar; cook and stir until the chard is wilted and tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 172 | Total Fat: 13.8g | Cholesterol: 0mg

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Suggestions For Eating Brown Rice.

Contributed by Food recipes, Thai food (Source)

If you have never eaten brown rice before and would like to make a start, a good idea would be to mix one portion of white rice and one portion of brown rice when cooking. Gradually reduce the proportion of white rice and allow the brown rice to be the major portion in your rice consumption. You will soon start liking the full, rich nut like flavour and texture of brown rice. Continue with your brown rice diet and if you ever try white rice again, you will immediately feel that it has a bland and starchy flavour that does not impress you. Few people change back to eating white rice after having eaten brown rice for a couple of months.

Make sure that you see the packing date on when you buy brown rice. You should ideally consume the brown rice within 3 to 4 months from the packing date. Refrigerating it in a tightly sealed plastic bag can increase the shelf life to around 5 to 6 months. Storing brown rice beyond this period gives the rice a stale rancid flavour.

You might find that some brown rice seeds are very brown while others look like they have been partly stripped of the bran (brown layer). This is because the polish process may be completely left off (fully brown seeds) or partially done. In cases where the brown rice is partially polished, the seeds could appear to have a lighter shade of brown or even appear a bit patchy with brown and white patches. The cooking time and soaking time for the rice might differ based on the extent to which the rice is polished. A little practice would enable you to work out the right amounts of soaking time and the right quantity of water to be added when cooking your brown rice.

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Brown Rice and White Rice, A Comparison.

Contributed by Food recipes, Thai food (Source)

Starting off with the external appearance, white rice is white because of the full polish that is given to the rice. Brown rice can be either fully brown or be a lighter shade of brown depending on the extent to which it has been polished or whether it has been polished at all. White rice has the husk and the bran layer removed from the seed whereas, brown rice retains the bran (fully or partially), the husk is ofcourse removed for brown rice as well.

Cooking white rice involves washing the rice and then cooking it, there is no need to soak the rice before cooking. Brown rice on the other hand, should be washed and then soaked in water for around 25 to 30 minutes before being cooked. Soaking is required for brown rice before cooking because, of the bran layer on top of the seed. The soaking process before cooking brown rice is meant to soften the bran layer on the seed.

If you compare the texture of brown rice and white rice after cooking, the brown rice will have a much firmer texture than white rice. It is this nutty kind of flavour that makes people love brown rice once they have tried it. White rice on the other hand gets a little more soft when cooked.

Brown rice has an appetising flavour of it's own, on the other hand white rice is often enhanced with other flavours. Some Asian countries have become experts in adding flavour and fragrance to white rice. This is very rarely done in the case of brown rice and the natural flavour of this rice is one of the reasons for it's growing popularity.

White rice has a longer shelf life as compared to brown rice. Brown rice develops a rancid flavour if stored unrefrigerated for more than 5 to 6 months. This is due to the natural oils in the bran layer becoming stale with time. It is something that you should remember especially if you are used to buying and eating white rice and have made a recent switch to brown rice.

Coming to the economics between brown and white rice, one would expect brown rice to be cheaper than white rice as it is rice that has not been completely polished. However, the truth is that brown rice is more expensive than white rice. The reason is possibly because brown rice despite it's growing popularity, has a total consumption that is less than white rice. The economies of larger production scale work in favour of white rice as far as pricing is concerned.

Much coverage has been given in this report to the health benefits of brown rice. If you had to compare brown rice and white rice on the basis of nutrition and health benefits, brown rice would surely come out the winner. For the health concious, brown rice would be the obvious choice as many health benefits of brown rice have been medically proved.

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Brown Rice Storing Tips.

Contributed by Food recipes, Thai food (Source)

If you look at the brown rice grains, you will notice the brownish bran layer that clings to the grain. In the normal process used to get white rice, this bran layer would be taken off in a polishing process. It is this bran layer that can be affected by prolonged storage and give the brown rice a rancid flavour if stored for more than four to five months. The rancid flavour of brown rice when stored for long periods, is due the natural oils in the bran layer of the rice grains becoming stale. You can increase the shelf life of brown rice by refrigerating the (uncooked) rice. However if you make a direct comparison, white rice has a longer shelf life as compared to brown rice. When you shop for your brown rice, check the manufacturing date on the packet and choose a store that has a high customer turnaround.

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Cooking Brown Rice.

Contributed by Food recipes, Thai food (Source)

Most of us are quite used to cooking white rice and the basic concept remains the same when cooking brown rice too. However, when you make brown rice make sure that you allow the rice to soak in the water for around 25 to 30 minutes before turning on the heat. This is the right way to cook brown rice as the grains are a bit more tough and stiff. Soaking in water before cooking the brown rice helps to soften the grains. Cooking the brown rice with too much of water makes the grains stick together and feel like a paste. On the other hand using too little water to cook brown rice will, make the grains too stiff and will also not bring out the full flavour of brown rice. Many cooks would offer advise on how to cook brown rice, but it is best for you to learn the basics and then do the fine tuning to suit your taste.

When working out the proportion of water to be added to cook brown rice, start out with a 1:2 ratio. This means that you add 2 cups of water to 1 cup of brown rice. Complete the brown rice cooking and check the texture of the rice by eating a few cooked grains (allow to cool sufficiently before trying this). This will give you a starting parameter to work with and you can then make subtle changes to the time that the rice is soaked (before cooking) and also the proportion of water and brown rice.

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Brown Rice Porridge (gluten free)

Posted by Honest to goodness organic food & natural food (Source)

This recipe is good for sensitive stomachs; those who need to cut down on sugars (even natural ones) can omit the honey!

Ingredients
1-2 cups brown rice (short grain is best, but any variety is fine)
3 cups water (approximately)
1/2 cup soy milk
Generous handful of dried cranberries and dried mango (cut into bite-sized pieces)
1 tbs chia seeds
1 tbs brown linseeds
1 tsp raw honey
1 tbs Natural yoghurt

Method
Boil brown rice in water and add dried fruit. Cook until rice grains are soft. Spoon into bowls (this mix will last around 3 days in the fridge).
To serve, reheat rice with soy milk, mix through the honey, top with seeds and serve with natural yoghurt.

For a bit of variety, substitute half a cup of rice for millet (hulled or un-hulled - doesn't matter) and half cup of quinoa. Cook in exactly the same way.

Thank you to Honest to Goodness customer, Elizabeth McIntosh (@OrganicSydney), for kindly sharing this recipe!

Tomato Avocado Salad with Anchovy Balsamic Dressing

Recipe By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen (Source)

If you can't find heirloom tomatoes, this refreshing salad would also be delicious with any other variety of ripe tomato.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 ripe avocados
• 3 lb (1.4 kg) mixed heirloom tomatoes, (about 12)
• Anchovy Balsamic Dressing:
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) balsamic vinegar
• 4 tsp (18 mL) anchovy paste
• 2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Anchovy Balsamic Dressing: In blender or bowl, blend or whisk together vinegar, anchovy paste, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. With motor running or whisking constantly, add oil in slow steady stream until thickened and emulsified. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 3 days.)

Peel, pit and quarter avocados lengthwise; thinly slice and fan in centre of platter or plates. Cut tomatoes crosswise into 1/2-inch (1 cm) thick slices; overlap around avocados. Drizzle with dressing.

Additional information : Tip: For a vegetarian version, replace anchovy paste with equal amount of chopped rinsed capers.

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Source : Canadian Living Magazine: August 2007