Comforting Brown Rice Porridge with Mushrooms

This brown rice porridge is inspired by Chef Louis Maldonado of Spoonbar here in Healdsburg, and most recently of Top Chef fame. He turned me on to rice porridge. It’s one of the staples on his menu that he changes up with the seasons and the whims of the farmers that supply him. It’s also a traditional dish across a number of different cultures, from Korea to Vietnam, and is often eaten as breakfast (which I can now personally vouch for as being a very good idea). On a recent cold, cold night when my family was dropping sick one by one, I conjured this version up to bring comfort to us all. It takes awhile to cook (you can shave off about half the time if you use a pressure cooker), but it’s one of those dishes that calls to you from the fridge all week long, so make a double batch and consider it time well invested.

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Easy Rice Pilaf

This rice pilaf recipe is an easy side dish that uses red-and-brown Indonesian Volcano Rice, which is cultivated in mineral-rich volcanic soil and is high in magnesium, manganese and zinc. You can substitute any brown rice. We added seasonal fresh English peas for color; edamame, fresh green chickpeas or thawed frozen peas would work well, too. To cook fresh peas, blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes or until tender but not mushy, drain, and rinse in cold water.

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