Great Rice Dish with Superb Flavor

Another rice dish. Well, I have been making lots of whole grain rice, and sometimes it's great to have it be something with added new flavors. This particular dish is really superb. The flavors are bright and fresh and paired exceptionally well with the Hoisin Pork I was serving for dinner. Since I was trying to come up with a side dish for the Hoisin pork, these flavors really worked.

The recipe for the Hoisin Pork was originally made to serve as appetizers. Last night I just sliced it to serve as dinner. I still had some of the Blackberry Chutney left so that was artfully spooned over the meat slices to serve.  
 

Tropical Rice

The rice dish had one main criteria; it had to have plenty of vegetables added, so it would be adequate vegetable to rice ratio. I believe this worked well. So well in fact that we all served small portions and what was meant to be a portion of rice and a portion of vegetables, turned out to be just one, single small serving. Oh well.

What makes the flavors so good with the pork are things like lime juice, dark, toasted Asian sesame oil and the grilled pineapple. I tossed in some Macadamia nuts at the end for some texture. My goal of late is healthy, meaning plenty of vegetables and lots of fiber, coming also from lots of lentils, mainly of the Indian variety. Rice is only whole grain, sometimes red, sometimes dark brown Wehani, sometimes red and sometimes just simple brown rice.

Grilling pineapple

The grilled pineapple is exceptional for flavor, but if you don't have a grill, or just don't feel like grilling, just raw pineapple or even canned (in its own juice) will do in a pinch. Grilled pineapple has such a great kind of sweetness, offset by a bit of charring and I highly recommend it! Simply use large spears of pineapple and set them onto a very hot grill, turning as each side acquires a nice charring of grill lines. Chop into small cubes once done. Since I was grilling the pork, I took the opportunity to grill the pineapple at the same time.
 
I had found some mizuna (Japanese mustard or spider mustard) at the Farmers' Market a couple of days ago, and last minute lightly chopped about a cup of that to add in.  If not available, baby arugula would also be perfect. All in all, it was one bowl of splendid flavors.

Mizuna Greens

Tropical Rice

Serves 4 to 8, depending on portion size

Tropical Rice

¾ cup brown rice
1½ to 2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon dark Asian sesame oil
1 cup grilled pineapple, cut into small cubes
1 small cucumber, seeded, in small cubes
1 cup mizuna, or substitute baby arugula or spinach, chopped
¾ cup chopped orange bell pepper
½ cup chopped scallions
½ cup chopped cilantro or parsley
½ cup macadamia nuts, halved

About an hour and a half before serving, make the rice: place the brown rice into a saucepan with ¾ teaspoon salt and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and cover with a lid. Follow package directions for cooking time (mine cooked for 55 minutes). Once cooked, remove from heat, remove lid and let cool.

Once cooled, add the lime juice and dark Asian sesame oil to the rice and toss well. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients and toss well. Add in the rice and mix well to combine and serve immediately. Or allow to chill and serve cold.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.