Addictive Brown Rice Bowls

Yet another obsession has emerged.  This is further to my recent (no) cream of vegetable soup obsession (which still lives on) and my brownie obsession (which has thankfully creeped into the shadows).  My newest obsession is rice bowls.  Until my parents got here, I'd been eating them every day for lunch.  And still want more. 

Love these!  I can whip up a really big batch, which is essential in my choice of recipes these days.  I can also freeze them (super handy) and they don't take super long to make.  Well, they do with kids underfoot, but I kinda think that in my old life these wouldn't have been terribly time-consuming.  And they're crazy healthy, simple and delicious.  And a great way to get loads of veggies.

You can basically make any combination you want, but I'll share what I've been doing lately.

2 C uncooked short-grain brown rice
1/2 bunch of asparagus
3 portabello mushrooms
1 pkg. of snow peas
3 bell peppers, any colours
2 baby bok choy
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

 

I had also wanted to put a sweet onion in this as well, but I apparently forgot to take it out of my cart at the grocery store, as it didn't come home with me. 

I cooked the rice in my rice cooker, with 4 C of water for the 2 C of rice. I typically don't soak rice prior to cooking it, but this is really essential for short-grain rice, as it's part of what makes them sticky.  It is best if you can soak it overnight, though I sometimes cheat and soak for less time when I'm in a rush.

I cooked the mushrooms and peppers in a little bit of olive oil and then steamed the other veggies in my veggie steamer.  Except the asparagus, which I boiled for 7 minutes.  I made sure that all of the vegetables were still a bit crunchy, as I wanted to be able to reheat this in the microwave without them all becoming soggy.  

 

 

So I made a huge batch of this and then made one of the two following options:

Hummus Chickpea Rice Bowl 

Throw a good handful of chickpeas into the rice/veggie mixture, heat it all up and serve with a spoonful of hummus on top.  Mix this in as a dressing.

Salsa Black Bean Rice Bowl

Throw a good handful of black beans into the rice/veggie mixture, heat it all up and serve with a spoonful of salsa on top.  Mix this in as a dressing.

Though I haven't tried it, I'm pretty sure that these would also be delicious cold. 

Difficulty level: easy