Have you guys heard of Bhutanese red rice?
My rice awareness was essentially limited to the brown, wild and white varieties, until I read about the wide array of rice options in Alive Magazine.
If you’re so inclined, you can read further about red rice over at Lotus Foods, but here’s the Coles Notes version: it’s extremely high in potassium and magnesium, which are essential to stuff like muscle function, nerve function and blood pressure balance. It’s gluten-free. And it cooks it only 20 minutes. That means you can’t use ‘but white rice is faster’ as an excuse. Deal?
This simple pilaf is an utterly tasty mixture of sweetness from the rice and squash, tartness from the cranberries, and deliciously caramelized onion bits. Serve it as a side dish, or throw in some protein like chickpeas or lentils to create a substantial, satisfying meal.
Anyone else tried Bhutanese red rice before? What did you think of it, and what’s your favourite way to use it?
Red Rice Pilaf
gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, soy-free, five ingredients or less
3 cups cubed butternut squash
1/2 cup Bhutanese red rice
1 small onion, sliced into half moons
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large baking dish or pan, toss the squash cubes and onion with olive oil. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork.
While the veggies are roasting, bring the rice and one cup of water to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
When the rice and veggies are done, stir them together, along with the cranberries and salt to taste.
This looks delicious! Is this a variation of the dish you brought to the potluck? Where do you buy red rice? I will have to try it out!
I bought my red rice at Famous Foods, but I’ve also seen it at Whole Foods and little markets on the Drive. The dish I brought to the potluck was a variation of this salad: http://thecopycatcook.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/roasted-butternut-squash-and-kale-salad/
I’ve never seen red rice, but I may have to try to find it. This pilaf looks wonderful. Might try it with red quinoa while I’m looking for the rice.
Red quinoa is a great idea!
This looks awesome – and gives me an excuse to try a new type of rice!!!
You can also get medium-grain red rice (it looks a little different than what I’ve seen labeled as Bhutanese red rice at Whole Foods) at some Asian markets. I used it instead of brown for about a year, just because it cooks faster and I already used a medium-grain rice.