Cilantro Rice

This dish is inspired from  Peruvian recipe "Arroz Con Pollo".  It is a recipe made with rice, chicken broth, chicken, cilantro juice and vegetables. I wanted to make it vegetarian so modified a little to fit to my taste.  It came out flavorful and delicious.

                    

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings

Ingredients

Rice: 2 Cup (any type of rice can be used) - I used Basmati soaked for an hour

Cilantro Leaves: 1 bunch

Lemon Juice:  2 table spoon (I also used chunk as it gives nice flavor)

Vegetables: Frozen Green beans, Peas, Carrots (½ Cup)

Ginger- small piece

Cooking Oil - 2 table spoon

Mustard Seeds (¼ table spoon)

Cloves (6)

Bay Leaves (2)
Turmeric: ¼ table spoon

Salt and Pepper to taste

 Directions:

Combine Cilantro and Ginger, blend in a blender. I used water to make it smooth. If you like, you can use vegetable broth as well. Set aside.

Heat oil in a cooking pan over medium high heat. Add few cloves, mustard seeds and bay leaves. When seeds start to crack, add vegetables and stir it for a while. 

 After about a minute, add rice, turmeric powder, and  stir to coat everything well. 

Then, pour  cilantro mixture and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add 1.5 cups of warm water or broth into the rice and stir well to combine everything. Bring it to boil, then reduce the heat to low/ medium low. Add  lemon juice and chunks. Cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 10-12 minutes.

 Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 2-3 minutes. Serve it warm with chutney and curry.

                    "Enjoy the Peru Delight in Nepali Version "

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa has become a favorite dish in my kitchen. Three years ago, I was looking for an alternative to rice that we eat quite frequently. Then I happened to eat a sample of Quinoa  at the Whole Foods grocery store. I loved it.

If you cook it in a pressure cooker, it resembles the split rice Nepali dish, puwa, which I am fond of too.

Quinoa has health benefits. It is a complete protein-source high in magnesium, iron, folate, zinc and fiber. You can fully satiate your appetite with Quinoa Salad without having a guilt that you are consuming too much carbs. More health benefits of quinoa can be found here.

I usually cook quinoa in a rice cooker. I rinse and soak it for an hour and add 1 cup of water to a cup of quinoa (if you don’t soak, add two cups of water to a cup of quinoa). I also add a spoon of butter, pinch of salt and turmeric just to enhance the flavor which is totally optional. When the quinoa is half cooked, I take the lid off the rice cooker and let it cook uncovered. This way it is fluffy, not mushy.

Today I am sharing Quinoa Salad recipe I made last weekend.  For salad, options are unlimited. You can add vegetables of your choice (carrot, spinach, bell pepper, avocado, black beans etc), cheese (fresh mozzarella, feta), nuts (almonds, raisins, cranberry), and whatever(edible!) you like. 

Ingredients:

Quinoa: 2 cups (cooked and chilled)

Tomato:  1 medium size (inner portion removed and chopped finely)

Cucumber:  1 medium size (peeled and diced finely)

Lemon Juice:  2 table spoon

Mango: 1 medium size (diced finely)

Cilantro: chopped finely

Salt and pepper to taste (if you like you can use finely chopped green chili as well)

Lemon Zest (pinch of it, as it gives good flavor)

  

Method:

Add all the ingredients in a bowl, mix them well and its ready to serve. You can either chill it in refrigerator for a while or serve it at room temperature.

Enjoy!