Forbidden Rice

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Forbidden, or black rice, is full of antioxidants and is much better for you than white rice! It is a good source of iron and fiber, as well as the antioxidants, anthocyanins (cancer fighters). To learn more, follow this link for more in depth info from CNN. As the article states, this rice is a bit chewier or has more ‘bite’ to it than white rice that many people are used to, but I really like the texture and you can’t beat the nutritional stats as far as rice is concerned. The author also talks about grinding the rice into a powder and adding it to other dishes, which I plan on trying as well. Have any of you experimented with this grain? What did you make?

Last Friday night we went to our friends Drew and Laura’s house for dinner. They made us delicious veggie kabobs on the grill and I was in charge of bringing a side dish, so I made up the following rice dish to bring along.  Feel free to add more pineapple if you like a lot of it, as it really adds to the dish.

 Antioxidant-Rich Forbidden Rice

  • 1 cup Forbidden Rice
  • 1 ¼ cup water or vegetable broth
  • 1 tsp. Oil
  • 1 ½ cup chopped Red Onion
  • 1 ½ cup Chopped Sweet Potato
  • 1 ½ cup Chopped Yellow Bell Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. minced Garlic
  • 1 cup Shelled Edamame
  • ½ cup canned pineapple with juice
  • ¾ tsp. Ground Cumin
  • ¼ cup Lime Juice
  • Salt, to taste

– Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.

– Place the rice and water/broth in a pot with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil.

– Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Then let sit with the heat off for 10 minutes.

– Meanwhile, sauté the onions for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle them with salt, then add the sweet potato and garlic and continue to sauté until the sweet potato begins to soften. Add the bell pepper and cumin.

-Once the rice has cooked and the bell pepper is just beginning to cook (still a little crunchy!), add the rice and edamame to the veggies.

– Stir in the Pineapple, juices and salt, to taste, just before serving.

The green edamame really popped in this dish!

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