Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Greek Basmati Rice


As suggested by Dreena, I paired this Greek basmati rice with lemon-herb tofu and it made for the perfect easy dinner. This rice dish comes together so quickly - basically you dump everything (tomatoes, olives, onion, garlic, lemon, oregano, uncooked brown rice) into a casserole dish and bake it for over an hour. Delicious and easy - perfect weeknight meal!

I'm so ridiculously excited as I just received 2 awesome new cookbooks in the mail!! Radiant Health Inner Wealth, and The Two Week Wellness Solution. I've been waiting for these books for weeks. We're going out for dinner shortly but I can't wait to come home and look through them!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Warm Roasted Pumpkin & Shallot Salad
Greek Barley Salad
Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon
Wild Rice Almond Cherry Pilaf

Greek Basmati Rice
Adapted from Vive le Vegan!

Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
3 1/4 cups water
1 medium red onion, diced
4 small tomatoes (1 to 1 1/4 cup) tomatoes, chopped, seeds removed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 400F. In a deep casserole dish, combined all the ingredients except the olives and parsley, and stir through to mix. Cover and bake for 60-65 minutes. Add the olives and stir through. Cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes or more, until the rice is soft and has absorbed all the water. Remove and stir in the fresh parsley.

9 comments:

Deborah said...

This looks like the perfect side dish!

janet @ the taste space said...

This looks like a really tasty side dish with all those Italian flavours. :)

I am so excited for you and your new cookbooks! I can't wait to see what you make first and how you like it. :) My favourite still is the black bean, apricot and cilantro salad, but I have liked nearly everything I have made so far. :)

Joanne said...

I've been totally into Greek flavors lately and this sounds perfect to satisfy my myriad cravings!

Those sound like awesome cookbooks...let us know how you like em!

Hannah said...

I only have sushi rice on hand at the moment, but I may just make this anyway... And hey, then I could make it into onigiri and take it to-go, too! ;) Looks great.

Johanna GGG said...

sounds lovely - I don't do enough fancy rices because I get lazy but it really doesn't need much to make that a meal

Hi from Ruth! said...

Mmm...I've been thinking about a recipe like this rice. I'll be trying it this week. Thanks!

Ruth

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

haha my brain is confused by the basmati combined with something non-Indian. how can this be?! but seriously this looks and sounds really yummy. btw, a reader of mine recently made the strawberry cream layer cake for her husband upon my recommendation. It brought back fond memories of my first "real" post and how you helped me have the confidence to try it. Thanks for that!

kimberleyblue said...

Oh, this sounds so zesty and fresh. What a great idea. I would definitely be tempted to throw some crumbled feta in there too.

Sounds like an awesome summer dish!

Maggie said...

I'm taking this recipe to my friends' and I's weekly pot luck. I'm sure I'll be the talk of the gathering!