Rice-based Recipes?

[Jenny in Florida]

I have always loved rice, but my husband was never a fan. He would eat some if I put it on his plate, but he would never ask for it as part of a meal.

Now that I am gluten free and it t just the two of us for most meals, we have been experimenting with recipes that include rice in more "interesting" ways than just as a plain side dish. Husband is now hooked and actually asks for these meals regularly.

Favorites so far are pineapple fried rice with sweet soy sauce, lots of veggies, sliced almonds and sesame seeds as well as a Mexican-style one with tomatoes, corn, bell peppers and black beans.

I would love to get any suggestions you all have for dishes that are similarly easy, vegan (or easy to adapt) but with different flavor profiles. I'm thinking maybe some Indian inspired or possibly middle Eastern? Husband has also requested something barbeque-ish?

Anyone have ideas or recipes?

[AmandaVT]

A stuffed cabbage roll casserole type dish would be good. Rice, chopped cabbage, you could do lentils or veggie grounds in there instead of ground beef. We like the Gardein beefless ground. We love lentils, but DH has to limit those. Spices: garlic, salt, pepper, cinnamon. Tomato based sauce. So good. Something like this: https://www.thespruceeats.com/unstuffed-cabbage-rolls-3057246

[Clemsondana]

We eat rice as the base for 'bowls' a lot - ours include well-seasoned shredded meat and roasted veggies. The rice itself is usually jasmine rice, although we've started trying brown rice and sometimes use garlic rice.  The rice doesn't need too much flavor because the seasoned, saucy meat and strong flavored or garlic-y veggies provide most of the flavor.  I don't know what hearty vegan thing you'd use in place of the meat - we'd probably use black beans with the flavors hat we use with beef but I'm not sure what we'd use in place of BBQ chicken or lemon-butter fish.  Last night we had gumbo served over brown rice, which ends up more like a rice-y soup, but something like a tomato-and-veggie-flavoried soup might work, substituting something for the chicken and sausage in our gumbo recipe.  

[Laura Corin]

This is one of our favourites.  You could make it without an IP.

https://www.hippressurecooking.com/lentil-risotto-peasant-cooking-under-pressure/

[Bambam]

My family enjoys this lemon chicken rice soup. I do cheat and only use chicken breast though. I'm sure it would be better with an entire chicken!
https://damndelicious.net/2018/11/27/lemon-chicken-and-rice-soup/

[catz]

We do Mexican rice bowls fairly often.  We make a big batch of shredded chipotle chicken and cilantro lime rice.  Throw on fajita veggies, salsa, cheese, sour cream,guacamole, black beans, lettuce, etc.   you can also get corn tortillas or shells  and wrap them and you will still be gf.  
 

edit, I didn’t get vegan at first but definitely easy to adapt.  I often do all this for potlucks but it can also easily feed GF, DF, vegan.   

Edited January 1, 2021 by FuzzyCatz

[katilac]

One general hint is to always cook your rice in stock rather than plain water for much better flavor. 

We love sesame rice: one cup rice cooked in chicken stock (but you could use veggie stock), then add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and stir. Adjust up with same ratio. You could have mixed vegetables on the side or mixed right into the cooked rice.

 

 

[*Jessica*]

We used to enjoy curried rice pilaf before DH went keto.  

Also, this wild rice dish.  

Oh, and mujadarrah!  Oh my, now I want that but I have no lentils.  

We used to do burger bowls, or taco bowls, or fajita bowls, etc by placing whatever toppings we wanted over a bowl of rice.  I’m sure you have vegan favorites that would work the same!  Roasted veggies over rice, drizzled in some garlic-infused olive oil with some red pepper flakes would be yummy.  

[Pippen]

We love Risi e bisi--Italian rice with peas. There are many variations that you can search. 

[marbel]

I like baked rice dishes - saute rice and aromatics and seasonings as desired, then add broth and vegetables, then bake.

This recipe has meat but gives the general idea and can be easily modified for vegan. I have used it as a jumping-off place for a lot of different combinations.  https://www.southernliving.com/syndication/chicken-collards-pilau

[athena1277]

2 hours ago, StillJessica said:

We used to enjoy curried rice pilaf before DH went keto.  

Also, this wild rice dish.  

Oh, and mujadarrah!  Oh my, now I want that but I have no lentils.  

We used to do burger bowls, or taco bowls, or fajita bowls, etc by placing whatever toppings we wanted over a bowl of rice.  I’m sure you have vegan favorites that would work the same!  Roasted veggies over rice, drizzled in some garlic-infused olive oil with some red pepper flakes would be yummy.  

How do you make burger bowls?  Might be something my family would like.

[*Jessica*]

On 1/1/2021 at 2:03 PM, athena1277 said:

How do you make burger bowls?  Might be something my family would like.

Cook rice.  Cook burgers or ground beef.  Rice in bowl, burger on top, cover with whatever burger toppings each individual likes: ketchup, mustard, chopped pickles, shredded cheddar, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed or raw onions, shredded lettuce, and bacon feature most often in our house.  DH also sometimes makes a copycat Big Mac or Whopper (not sure which, I don’t eat it) sauce.  

Bowls like these are really similar to a taco or baked potato bar, so customizable!  

[Sneezyone]

We love Brazilian cilantro lime rice. I cook jasmine rice in chicken stock with onion, garlic, and cilantro then fluff/toss/finish with a pat of butter and freshly squeezed lime juice.

[Carol in Cal.]

Have you tried the newly available purple rice or forbidden rice?  They are so good that DH and I both like them just plain.  (I buy the Lotus Foods brand, and cook them the way the package says.)

My favorite rice dish is a pilaf recipe from a French cookbook.

Melt half a stick of butter in a heavy pot.  Saute about 3/4 cup of white diced onion in it.  Add two cloves of minced garlic (I use the bottled kind) and 1 cup of long grain white or brown basmati rice.  Stir and cook until the rice changes from translucent to opaque.  Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth.  Bring to boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover.  Cook for 20 minutes.  Serve hot.

This is the best rice ever.

It is good plain.  It is good with gravy.  It is good plain with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese stirred in right before serving. It is good with chopped parsley on top.  It is good accidentally overcooked to the point where the bottom layer browns a bit.

The recipe doubles or triples with no problem.

I used to bring it to potlucks and the pattern was always, no one would take any because it looked so boring.  Then someone would take like one bite, LOVE IT, and tell all their friends, and they would swarm the table and it would be gone in about a minute, eaten to wild acclaim.  Pro tip:  If you take it to a potluck, you’ll probably still want some yourself, so take it at the beginning when everyone else is ignoring it.

[Jenny in Florida]

38 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Have you tried the newly available purple rice or forbidden rice?  They are so good that DH and I both like them just plain.  (I buy the Lotus Foods brand, and cook them the way the package says.)

We did try the purple rice recently, and it was yummy. It reminded me of sort of a cross between wild rice and brown rice. I would have eaten it plain, but I dolled it up a bit for my husband's sake with some extra margarine and some caramelized onion. Served it alongside twice-baked sweet potatoes topped with chopped pecans.  

[Kanin]

Sushi rice is my favorite rice! To cook it, rinse 1 cup of rice until the water is pretty clear. Then add to a small pot with 1 1/4 c water. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then, fluff with a fork.

My go-to meal that I eat every day for lunch or dinner is just some kind of rice (lately sushi rice), and sautéed meat and veggies. I'm too lazy to do this, but you could use different sauces to create all sorts of different flavors. Even just a squeeze of lime changes the flavor. 

Today we had sushi rice topped with a chicken thigh, mushrooms, and bok choy. Just seasoned with salt. I like rice meals b/c the rice cooks while I do  cook the rest of the stuff, and dinner can be ready in 20 minutes or so. 

I also like rice noodles instead of rice. 

[alisoncooks]

My family likes this baked rice dish, but I wouldn't say it's healthy. I reduce the butter by HALF and it works fine. I also add a jar (10 oz?) of sliced mushrooms. By the end of cooking, the edges are crispy and brown. Yum!

https://www.thechunkychef.com/stick-butter-rice/#wprm-recipe-container-8459

Edited January 2, 2021 by alisoncooks

[Pippen]

We really like this Stuck Pot Rice (without the lentils). I usually serve it with turkey meatballs.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/02/stuck-pot-rice-with-lentils-and-yogurt/

[Selkie]

Here are some good ones that are all vegan and whole food plant based:

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/tex-mex-rice-salad/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/middle-eastern-rice-and-lentils/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/cajun-cabbage-and-rice/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/vegan-spanish-spicy-chorizo-and-rice/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/tex-mex-spicy-veggie-rice/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/cabbage-fried-rice/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/lentil-mushroom-wild-rice-pilaf/

 

[Bootsie]

jambalaya, etouffee, gumbo, dirty rice.... coming from south Louisiana every meal has rice