Creamy Green Rice with Spiced Seeds

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 43 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups short grain brown rice

2 cups frozen spinach

1 cup loosely packed fresh herbs

½ cup hulled hemp seeds

½ cup water

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp mellow white miso paste

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp kosher salt

Pickled red onions

1 cup seed mix (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, etc)

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp olive oil

¼-½ tsp kosher salt

*This recipe desperately needs an acidic crunchy topper. You could use pickled red onions, sauerkraut, or thinly sliced veg (radish, fennel, celery, etc…) tossed in lemon and salt.

**Double this recipe and use the extra seeds to top this week's caesar salad.

**I love the flavor and texture of the fennel seeds, but if you’re not into that, reduce to 1 teaspoon or leave it out.

Note: ~ to up the protein, top with a fried egg or some crispy chickpeas. Parmesan or feta cheese would also be a delicious topper.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add seeds, fennel, paprika, oil, and salt to the baking sheet and toss to coat (I like these nice and salty and use ½ teaspoon since they are being used as a topper, but you could tone it down with ¼ teaspoon). Bake for 8-10 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until the seeds are toasted and fragrant. Remove and let cool.

In a large pot, add the brown rice and enough water to cover by 3-inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium to maintain a gentle boil for 30-35 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Drain thoroughly, then transfer back to the pot (make sure all of the water is out of the pot).

In a high-speed blender, add the spinach, herbs, hemp, water, lemon, miso, oil, garlic, and salt. Blend until totally smooth (start slow, then slowly increase the speed). If too thick to blend, add a splash of water. Pour the sauce over the rice and mix to coat (scrape off every last bit!).

Serve the rice topped with plenty of seeds (¼ cup per person, load it up!) and lots of pickled red onions.

Instant pot short grain brown rice instructions:

Add 2 cups rice + 2 ¼ cups water + ½ tsp kosher salt to a 6-qt Instant Pot. Set the vent to “sealing”, then pressure cook on high for 20 minutes. Let it naturally release for 10 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure by moving the valve to “venting”.