i boil beets to cook them, though i know it’s nutritionally better to do it some other way. it’s just that everything else is so slooooooowwwwwwwww! (if i ever claimed to be a patient person, i take it back!) i chop them up into bite sized cubes and boil them for ten or fifteen minutes, leaving a pot of gorgeous magenta colored water. i really need to get more creative with this in the future!
i saved the water to do something with, even if it was just to throw it out onto the tree in the backyard (i do live in a desert!) and decided that cooking rice in it would be brilliant (brilliant pink if nothing else ;)
we had locally grown eggplants, which i sliced into half-inch or so rounds and put on a baking pan drizzled with olive oil. oven was preset to 300, and the eggplant was covered (loosely) with aluminum foil. i didn’t set a timer. (it usually works out ok for me, but you might not agree! be safe :) this was the first thing to start cooking, as i wanted to try and give it at least 45 or so minutes.
the rice was short grain brown, which i like very much. it seems soft somehow...the ultimate comfort food! it’s also a little bit sweet, and i believe it’s more nutritious than white. one cup rice to two cups (pink) water was brought to a boil and then turned down to simmer. i kept a good eye on it, in case the beet water was thicker and didn’t absorb as well. it did just fine :)
who knows when eggplant is done....as long as it’s softer than when it went in it’s probably ok! a fork shouldn’t meet much resistance, but other than that, it’ll be fine :)
i put a little butter and ground flax in with the rice, and put the eggplant rounds on top. yum!
sides were grilled zucchini and green salad.
beet rice with baked eggplant and grilled zucchini
approximate price: $4
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