Full of some of my favourite vegetables and spices, this rice dish is a meal all on its own. You could also team it up in winter with a slow-cooked lamb roast (saving the bone to use in broth later) or in summer with some freshly cooked seafood such as large shrimp (prawns) or squid.
Serves 4
THE BONE BROTH BIBLE
Images and recipes from The Bone Broth Bible by Emma Ellice-Flint
New Holland Publishers Australia RRP $35.00
INGREDIENTS
• 1 bunch baby carrots, about 250 g
• 1 bunch baby beetroots
• 4 small zucchini (courgette)
• 50 g raw almonds with skin on, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons extra, for carrots
• 1 large purple onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon organic butter
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon allspice powder
• 85 g basmati white rice
• 85 g basmati brown rice
• pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
• 500 ml chicken bone broth
• 1 handful coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 1 handful mint, chopped
• 1 handful flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped
• 3 medjool/Californian dates, pitted and chopped
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Cut the excess stalks from the carrots and beets, whilst keeping about 2.5 cm of stalk on the top of each vegetable. Wash the vegetables really well, but don’t peel.
Cut the beets in half lengthways. Place the beetroots in a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until just cooked.
Cut the carrots and zucchini in half lengthways. Toss in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Place the carrots and zucchini in a baking tray and pop in the oven for 15 minutes, or until just cooked.
In a large frying pan with a lid, gently toast the almonds for 2–3 minutes over low heat, then tip out into a bowl.
In the same frying pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the onion and cook over low heat, stirring, for about 10 minutes or until soft. Keep the lid on during this to stop the onions from catching.
Stir in the garlic and continue cooking over low heat for a further 1 minute. Then stir in the spices and the rice. Add the bone broth and a big pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover with a lid and increase the heat, bringing everything to the boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to really low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the brown rice is cooked.
Take each beetroot and carefully peel off the skin.
Once the rice is cooked, test if it needs any more salt and pepper, then tip it into a large serving bowl. Stir through the herbs, beets, zucchini and carrots, and scatter the almonds and dates on top.
If you have any cooked chicken left over from say cooking the Chicken Ginger Penicillin Soup, then you could shred some of this chicken into the bowl.