I have a problem hoarding dried goods. If rice or beans or flour is on sale? I'll come home with a fifty pound bag. I have bags upon bags upon buckets of dried goods. I might be set in case of economic collapse or the zombie apocalypse! But I don't have enough space in my closet that I turned into a pantry because I have more need for food storage than I do clothes. So, after my last move, I became determined to stop buying things that I don't use and to actually use what I already have! That was 2 years ago and I have actually made some progress. "Some" being the operative word. Although I did discover an entire bag of black rice that I didn't know that I did, which is exciting because I really enjoy black rice! And Halloween is around the corner, so no one will bat an eye if have a color theme going on with sweet potatoes, shallots, and black rice.
I'm, honestly, not that big a fan of white rice. It takes on the flavor of other ingredients really well, but it's kind of boring on its own. I like something a little bit heartier and more flavorful. Brown rice, red rice, wild rice, black rice, and really just anything that is not white rice is going to have a much more robust flavor profile. I like to play this up with something like sweet potatoes, which balance out the earthiness of black rice. Which does tend to turn a little bit purple when cooked. But does keep its shape really well and has a nice little crunch to it (as opposed to white rice and other rice varieties that are more prone to being softer and clumping together). If you're interested, I have an entire article on What’s the Difference Between Types of Rice?
Gallery
I've been trying out an organic liquid ginger. It's a little bottle of ginger, spirit vinegar, water, sea salt, and xantham gum. I generally try to use whole ingredients and I can get fresh ginger. Although I'm not a huge fan of ginger texturally! A lot of the time I'll figure out how many ingredients I can purée together in order to put the ginger through a food processor or Vitamix. So, I'm not using fresh ginger in this recipe. Although, you can absolutely mince or zest up some ginger, instead!
Variations of Sweet Potatoes Black Rice
There are plenty of different types of rice. I'm going to have to use black rice more often now that I know that I have it. Although wild rice and brown rice also have a similar taste and texture. Albeit slightly less spooky.
Add all of the ingredients into a rice cooker. I like to start with the larger vegetables and then add the smaller ingredients. Top with the bay leaves, spices, lime juice, and olive oil. And then add the rice and water.This cooks the larger vegetables on the bottom, while dispersing the flavor profiles in the middle. Although with some mixing, this really doesn't matter all that much. Everything will eventually cook together!
Press the cook button on the rice cooker. It should take about 45 minutes to cook.Alternatively you can simmer on the stove. Add all of the ingredients to a pot, bring uncovered to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook covered for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet squash and rice are tender. Turn off heat, add lid, and let sit another 5-10 minutes.
When the rice is fully cooked, let sit for 10 minutes, and then fluff with a wooden spoon and serve.Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach Teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom!
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For tips and tricks on The Fundamentals of Cooking Rice, particularly brown rice, check out my article on the matter. Rice is surprisingly more difficult to cook in a rice cooker than the name would suggest and there are a multitude of simple solutions for common problems, like overcooking and becoming mushy or drying out. There are also some solutions for remedying these issues after the fact, instead of starting over!
Leave a Reply