Catfish Out of Water

I almost never make rice in my rice cooker. Ironically enough, quinoa and lentils cook up much better and are far easier meals to toss together. Rice often ends up too thick or thin, too moist or dry, and just relatively unpleasant. Part of the reason for this is that rice that we get in restaurants is often absolutely drenched in butter, broth, or other less than healthy concoction to make it flavorful enough to serve. I'm partial to making brown rice, which just compounds this problem! But the best thing that I have found is to add olive oil, squash, and various spice blends. And this squash brown rice is absolutely delectable. I dare say, one of my best versions to date.

Gallery

Is the rice really that fluorescent? Yes, yes it is. Ambercup squash is a very deeply hued squash. It may look at taste a bit like butternut squash. But the hue of butternut squash pails in comparison! Ambercup looks almost as bright as turmeric and will certainly stain your clothes, carpet, and other fabrics orange. Although certainly with much less gusto. I avoid turmeric sometimes because I'm afraid of it dyeing everything that I own! Squash is not nearly as problematic, though, and I cook it with quite regularity.

Variations of Squash Brown Rice

Ironically enough, I've always found rice to be one of the more difficult things to cook in a rice cooker. It does cook, but it tends to either dry out or mush together and the taste definitely leaves something to be desired! It took me years to come up with an adequate solution to this. Particularly when cooking brown rice, which actually has a nutritional value. And the best thing that I have come up with is cooking the rice in vegetable broth, instead of water. This adds copious amounts of salt and the quintessential flavor or restaurant-style rice. Although it does also add copious amounts of salt!

My favorite way of cooking rice is now to add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and add squash or pumpkin. This softens the rice and adds a permeating flavor, without having to replace all of the water. And it's absolutely delicious. Just spice to taste, add a dash of salt and pepper, and come back in 40 minutes when the rice is done cooking!

Brown Rice w/ Squash, Bell Peppers & Habaneros

Squash & Habaneros Brown Rice

Brown Rice w/ Pumpkin & Tomatoes

Brown Rice w/ Ambercup Squash & Red Chilis

This squash brown rice combines ambercup squash, red chili peppers, tomatoes, limes, olive oil, bay leaves, and various spice blends. It's an absolutely delicious version of brown rice that is quick and easy to toss together. You can also substitute calavaza, butternut, or any other squash of choice. Softer squash varieties can also be cubed and thrown in raw, instead of puréed.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Resting Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Latin American

Servings 4 cups

Equipment

• Rice Cooker

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 c. ambercup squash roasted & puréed
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 red onion diced
• 3 medium tomatoes diced (or 1 large tomato)
• 2 chili peppers minced
• 1 lime juiced
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• dash cumin
• dash coriander
• dash cayenne pepper
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 1 c. brown rice
• 2 ½ c. water (or vegetable broth)
• 3 bay leaves

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• I used Roasted Ambercup Squash in this recipe. This takes a couple of hours and requires aluminum foil and a baking dish. I am a big fan of ambercup squash. It's a medium-sized variety with dense flesh and a lot of flavor. You can easily substitute butternut squash, pie pumpkin, or other gourd of choice.

Cook Rice

• 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, and lime juice. Then, add the rice, vegetable broth, 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.