These kimchi rice balls might only be bite sized, but they deliver big bold umami flavors with their spicy, savory, and tangy notes. Delicious chilled or even at room temperature making them the star of any bento lunch box.

As a bonus, we are sharing with you how to make homemade furikake seasoning (rice sprinkles) because we are all about staying on budget and using up the ingredients you have on hand.

Budget Friendly

Are you still recovering from sticker shock from the last grocery trip? Let's double down and make sure that no food goes to waste. You can literally add anything to sticky rice balls - making them the perfect vessel for refrigerator clean out day.

You would be amazed at all the delicious pantry meals you can make with the little bits and bobs of veggies or proteins in your refrigerator and a few staples. If grandma could make something delicious appear like magic, so can we!

Ingredients Jumeok bap

Cooked short grain rice (sushi rice) is called bap or 밥 in Korean. This grain has more starch, making it stickier than long grained rice and thus easier to form balls. Just because it is stickier, please do not confuse this with sweet glutinous type used to make mango sticky rice.

Toasted Sesame Oil is one of the most important ingredients. This simple ingredient is what differentiates Korean Rice Balls from Japanese Rice Balls. We also use sesame oil to prevent the rice from sticking to our hands when we are rolling them.

Kimchi - is made with salted fermented vegetables like napa cabbage and more.  It gives these Korean snacks a delicious umami and funky flavor just like our creamy kimchi pasta. Not to mention, fermented foods are great for your gut biome and act like a probiotic.  

Vegetables - We used some sliced green onions but grated carrot, finely sliced spinach, chopped bean sprouts and more are all delicious in rice balls. Bibimbap (Korean mixed rice bowl) leftovers are a nice addition too. The caveat is that all the vegetables or even mushrooms need to be finely chopped and cooked so that they are pliable and can easily be formed into a compact ball.

Proteins - now this is something you can have fun with.  Try adding in or stuffing a little finely chopped Korean beef bulgogi, scrambled eggs, tuna fish or baked miso salmon into the center of the rice ball. It is all about cleaning out the little leftover bits and bobs in the refrigerator.

Gochujang - is a fermented Korean red chili paste. This optional ingredient gives our fried rice with leftover ham and kimchi Korean rice ball a kick of sweet and heat.

Nori Furikake

Dried Seaweed Seasoning is the Korean version of Japanese furikake. These fun "rice sprinkles" add flavor and texture to plain rice and kids LOVE it.  In addition, it prevents these snacks from sticking to everything they touch. This seasoning usually includes dried roasted seaweed (also known as laver or Gim (김) in Korean) along with some other ingredients like dried vegetables, roasted sesame seeds, salt other flavorings.

You can purchase in the Asian food section of the grocery store or at an Asian food market. Today, we are going to show you how to make your own homemade rice sprinkles.  

How to Make Rice Balls?

• Chop up kimchi, green onions and any vegetables or proteins desired.

• Toss in kimchi and vegetables to a pan or wok and cook until aromatic and the liquids are absorbed.
• Add sesame oil gochujang, leftover short-grained rice, and sesame seeds to the kimchi in the pan and stir until well incorporated and the rice is warm.
• Sprinkle dried Korean Furikake seaweed seasonings on flat plates. Set aside extra sesame oil in a small bowl. Place the lightly warmed cooked kimchi rice near you so you can make Korean rice balls in assembly line fashion.

• Dip your fingers or disposable gloved fingers into the sesame oil and rub your hands together to lubricate and prevent sticking. Alternatively, you can dip your fingers and hands into water.
• Place approximately ¼ cup of rice in your hand and squeeze tight and form into a ball. You can also use a small sheet of plastic wrap to help form it into a tight ball.
• If you want to add a stuffing of bulgogi beef, bibimbap, tuna mayo or any other proteins or vegetables in the middle, first place about 2 tablespoon of warmed kimchi rice in your hand. Next, place a little spoonful of the stuffing and then another tablespoon or so of the kimchi rice on top. Then squeeze and form into a ball.

• Lastly, roll in the seaweed for rice balls or toasted sesame seeds.
• Enjoy!

3 Ingredient Home Furikake Rice Seasoning

Furikake is a dried rice seasoning. Our family refers to them as "rice sprinkles". It turns bland boring white rice into a tasty bite. If you can't find this Asian seasoning at the grocery store, you can use this easy furikake substitute recipe and personalize it to your taste preferences. It's less expensive than store bought and fresher too!

1. Roasted dried seaweed sheets - also known as nori, laver, gim, or김. These can be plain or seasoned.
2. Salt
3. Toasted sesame seeds - we used white sesame seeds, but you can also use black or a combination of both.

How to make Homemade Furikake Seasoning?

Our version of nori furikake is unique because we roast the seaweed sheets directly over the stove top burner to make them extra crunchy and it gives them this delicious toasty flavor. Head on over to our YouTube channel so you can see how we make this 3 ingredient furikake rice seasoning in action.

• Toast the dried roasted seaweed sheet directly over the stove top. Hold on to a corner of the seaweed sheet with a pair of tongs.
• Carefully, brush the sheet quickly back and forth on both sides over a low-medium heated stovetop. You can do this on a gas, electric or any type of stovetop.

• Check out these visual ques in the photo above. Do you see how the seaweed (nori) sheets turned from a dark green to a bright Kelly-green color and have a tie-dyed look? Now, they are perfectly roasted.

• Crumble the toasted seaweed sheets and place them in the food processor or high-powered blender.  Add salt and any other seasoning you wish along with the crushed nori.  Pulse into a sesame sized furikake seasonings.
• Next, add the toasted sesame seeds into the food processor. Pulse a couple of times just until the sesame seeds lightly break, and some are still whole.
• Have fun with additions. Try adding dried bonito flakes, chili flakes, wasabi powder, white pepper, sugar, dried shrimp, dried shiitake mushroom powder or any of your favorite dried seasonings.
• If you do not have roasted seaweed sheets, no worries.  Instead, just add sesame seeds and salt together along with any other dried spices you like.

How to Make Rice Balls Hold Together?

Proper Ingredients

• Use short-grained sushi rice cooked per the package directions. Do not use long grained, brown, or black rice as these have different textures and are not sticky.
• To prevent the rice from sticking to your hands, dip your fingers into sesame oil or water and rub your hands together. Keeping your hands lubricated with water or oil will make it easier to roll.
• If you decide to add other veggies into the mixture, make sure that they are grated or chopped finely and cooked. In addition, the vegetables need to be cooked to remove any extra moisture.  The ratio of cooked vegetables, including the kimchi to rice is 1 and ¼ cups vegetables to 3 cups cooked rice. If you add more, the balls may not hold together.

Technique

• Heat the rice before forming it into balls - just until warm so it is not too hot to handle. If you are using leftover rice, you can warm it in the pan or microwave with the rest of your ingredients.  Cold rice does not stick together as well as warm rice.
• Don't make the rice balls too large! The larger the ball, the more difficult it is to make them stick together. This easy recipe makes approximately eight 2 inch sized Korean treats. Using approximately ¼ cup of the kimchi rice mixture for each ball is just about right.
• After you grab a scoop of rice, squeeze it with both of your hands tightly. Using this firm pressure will help the balls stay in shape. Once you do this a few times, shape them into a round compact ball. Check out the video below as we demonstrate how to do this.
• Use a piece of plastic wrap around the balls and tie it tightly. If you have a hard time making a round shape or getting your balls to hold together, this technique is useful.
• Lastly, refrigerate these kimchi treats for 30 minutes before serving. This helps them hold their shape.

Favorite Fillings

Get creative and add fillings to your Korean rice ball recipe. The only caveat is they need to be finely chopped, seasoned, and stir fried to remove any extra moisture. Some of our favorite fillings are…

1. Bibimbap or bulgogi beef
2. Tuna mayo - this does not need to be stir fried.
3. Sauteed minced shiitake mushrooms
4. Stir fried vegetables.

How to Stuff?

Amp up the flavor with your favorite Asian fillings. This step is not required. However, it is a great way to use up all those bits and bobs of leftovers in your refrigerator. In addition, it's a more substantial lunchtime option.

• It's the same prep procedure as before.  Lubricate your hands with sesame oil or water.
• Place about 2 tablespoons of the kimchi rice in your hand and flatten it out.
• Then, add about 1 teaspoon of your filling of choice.
• Place another 2 tablespoons of kimchi rice on top of the filling.
• Squeeze the rice and filling mixture together and form into a ball.
• Roll into the Korean Furikake rice seasoning.

How to Serve?

This Korean kimchi and rice recipe can be served as a snack or part of a meal.

Bento boxes are a fun way to get the kids to eat school lunches. A bento box is a food safe container with a lid. It has separate sections, so food does not touch. If you're a parent, you know the sky is falling and the world is ending if food is touching. Right? (Smiling)

However, something magical happens when you add bite sized fun to eat foods and colors in a box. If you have ever tried to get your kids to eat their sandwich or meal, you know this struggle is real. However, once we add fresh bite sized vegetables, fruits, maybe some tomagoyaki and a few rice balls - the box comes back empty every time.

Alternatively, serve kimchi rice balls as a part of a main meal with salmon cakes, salad, daikon pickles, miso soup or even beef rollups.   

 Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

More Easy Bento Box Ideas

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

More Delicious Korean Recipes

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Kimchi Korean Rice Balls

Satisfy your inner cravings with these easy kimchi Korean rice balls (jumeok bap, 주먹밥) made with leftover sushi rice, kimchi, vegetables and coated in a homemade seaweed seasoning.

Course Appetizers/ Snacks, lunch

Cuisine Korean

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8 rice balls

Calories 106kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• food processor or high speed blender optional - to make homemade Furikake rice seasoning
• tongs or chop sticks optional - to carefully toast the nori seaweed sheets
• pan

Ingredients

Homemade Furikake Rice Seasoning (optional) - Skip if using store bought

• 3 sheets laver (dried seaweed) nori sheets roasted (plain or seasoned)
• ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• sugar optional ingredient to taste if desired (we did not add any)

Korean Rice Balls

• 1 cup kimchi
  chopped and drained
• 2 green onions sliced
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil plus extra on the side to prevent your hands from sticking when rolling balls
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste - depends on the quality of kimchi.
• 1 tablespoon gochujang Korean Red Pepper Paste - or to taste. (Optional as it is spicy)
• 3 cups rice short grained cooked sushi rice
• 2 green onions sliced thinly
• 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
  toasted
• extra veggies of choice (optional) You can use up to a total of 1 and ¼ of vegetables and kimchi when combined together for a total of 3 cups of cooked rice. Make sure all your veggies are grated or cut finely and stir fried to remove any extra moisture.
• proteins or stuffing's of choice (optional) use up those cooked leftover beef bulgogi, bibimpbap beef, salmon or protein of choice chopped finely.
• Homemade Furikake Rice Seasoning or store bought (Recipe below)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Homemade Furikake Seaweed Rice Seasoning (optional) - skip step if using store bought

• Turn a burner on to a low-medium heat. Hold the end of the seaweed sheet (nori or laver sheet) with a pair of tongs or chopsticks.
• Directly over the burner, briskly run the seaweed sheet back and forth. Do this fast and do not let it burn. The goal is to lightly toast the nori leaves all over on both sides to make them crispy. The color of the seaweed sheet will turn from a dark green to a bright Kelly green and have sort of a tie dyed look.
• Crumble the toasted nori seaweed sheets into the food processor or high powered blender. Add salt and sugar if desired. Pulse to chop until almost the size of a sesame seed. Then, add in toasted sesame seeds. Pulse just a few times so some of the sesame seeds are chopped and some are whole. Place half of the homemade furikake rice seasoning on a flat plate. Reserve the rest in a sealed container for another recipe.

Korean Rice Balls

• Finely chop kimchi, green onions and any extra cooked vegetables. (See recipe notes for additional vegetables and fillings)
• Add kimchi to the pan and stir fry until the moisture is released. (If you are not using a non-stick pan, add the sesame oil in first.) Then add the sesame oil, salt, sugar, optional gochujang paste, cooked short grained sushi rice and toasted sesame seeds. Stir fry until the rice is just warm and the ingredients are well incorporated. Set aside until the rice is warm but cool enough to touch.
• Lubricate your hands with sesame oil or water. Place approximately ¼ cup of WARM kimchi rice in your hand. With both hands, squeeze the ball tight a few times. Then form the rice into a round ball. (Alternatively, you can use a small sheet of plastic wrap to form a tight ball by twisting the end tight.) Repeat this process with the remainder of the rice. This recipe makes approximately 8 balls.
• Next, roll the kimchi rice balls in the homemade furikake seaweed rice seasoning.
• For best results, refrigerate Korean rice balls covered for 30 minutes. Enjoy

Video

Notes

Storage

Kimchi Korean Rice Balls can be stored in a covered container for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. We do not recommend freezing the rice as it changes the texture. 

Recipe Tips

• Use short-grained sushi rice cooked per the package directions. We used leftover cooked rice.
• Heat the rice before forming it into balls - just until warm so it is not too hot to handle.
• Dip your fingers into sesame oil or water and rub your hands together to prevent the rice from sticking to your hands.
• If you decide to add other veggies into the rice mixture, make sure that they are grated or chopped finely and cooked. In addition, the vegetables need to be cooked to remove any extra moisture. The ratio of cooked vegetables, including the kimchi to rice is 1 and ¼ cups vegetables to 3 cups cooked rice. If you add more, your kimchi rice balls may not hold together.
• Don't make the rice balls too large! The larger the rice ball, the more difficult it is to make them stick together. This easy recipe makes approximately 8 golf ball Korean treats. Using approximately ¼ cup of the kimchi rice mixture for each ball is just about right.
• After you grab a scoop of rice, squeeze it with both of your hands tightly. Using this firm pressure will help the balls stay in shape.
• Use a piece of plastic wrap around the balls and tie it tightly. 

How to Stuff a Rice Ball

Feel free to use up those leftovers and stuff them into the center of the rice ball. Finely chopped cooked bulgogi beef, bibimbap beef, salmon or other proteins/mushrooms are all delicious. Here is the procedure...

• Lubricate your hands with sesame oil or water.
• Place about 2 tablespoons of the kimchi rice in your hand and flatten it out.
• Then, add about 1 teaspoon of your filling of choice.
• Place another 2 tablespoons of kimchi rice on top of the filling.
• Squeeze the rice and filling mixture together and form into a ball.
• Roll into the Korean Furikake rice seasoning.

Nutrition

Serving: 1ball | Calories: 106kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 465mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 128IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Kimchi Korean Rice Balls appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

Black Rice (also known as Forbidden Rice, Emperor's Rice or Purple Rice) is a healthy whole grain to add to salads, hearty soups, and as a side to our Air Fryer Kabocha Squash with Curried Sauce. Using a multi-function pressure cooker with the sauté function, allows you cook everything in one pot and infuse the aromatics into the rice.

Ingredients

• Black Rice - Heads up! You want to look for either long or short grained plain black rice (forbidden) or Thai Jasmine black rice. You do NOT want sticky or glutinous black rice for this pilaf recipe. They are two completely different things. Read the package carefully before purchasing. We used a long grain made in Thailand. Although black sticky rice would be delicious in our Easy Mango Sticky Rice, it has a different texture and a different preparation is required.

• Coconut oil or oil of choice - We chose coconut oil as we were planning on serving our instant pot black rice pilaf with our Thai Pumpkin Curry.  You can exchange with any oil of choice. The purpose of the oil is to coat each rice grain, and this prevents sticking and clumping together. In addition, the sautéing before pressure cooking adds an intense nutty flavor to the recipe.

• Aromatics - onions and garlic

• Chicken or Vegetable broth - adds flavor to this recipe. Please use a vegetable broth to keep it vegan. Choose a low sodium broth so you adjust the seasonings.

Step by Step Overview

• Rinse and drain well

• Sauté onions and garlic in oil.
• Add the drained black rice into the Instant Pot and sauté until aromatic and all the grains are covered in the oil. This seals the rice and helps prevent sticking.

• Pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and season to taste.
• Seal Instant pot (pressure cooker) and cook on high pressure cook for 17 minutes.
• Allow natural release for 10 minutes.
• Carefully release the pressure for the Instant Pot.
• Fluff, stir and serve.

Garnishes

After the Instant Pot grain has cooked, be sure to season to taste with salt and pepper. Then add fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro or even chopped chives or green onions. A fun and easy way to add a little extra protein is to add canned cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and little fresh lemon zest like in our recipe for Lemon Pepper Rice.

Where to purchase Forbidden Rice?

You can purchase this nutty grain at specialty stores, Asian food stores and even online. If you have access to Amazon, there are many delicious organic choices available.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

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Instant Pot Black Rice Pilaf

Learn how to make fool proof Instant Pot Black Rice Pilaf in just 30 minutes. Forbidden rice is nutty, naturally sweet and has an addictive chewy texture.

Course Sides

Cuisine American, Chinese, Thai

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 3 minutes minutes

Cook Time 17 minutes minutes

Instant Pot Natural Pressure Release 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 221kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• Instant Pot or Multi-function pressure cooker that can also sauté.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Forbidden black rice
  
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or oil of choice
• 1 small onion peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• 1 and ¼ cup chicken broth low sodium and gluten-free or vegetable broth to keep vegan
• salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Rinse forbidden black rice with cool water in a fine mesh colander until it runs clear. Drain well.
• In the meantime, chop onion and garlic. Turn the Instant Pot on and set to sauté function. Add coconut oil or oil of choice to the instant pot. Add the chopped onion and garlic into the oil and sauté until aromatic and translucent,
• Add the rinsed and drained black rice to the Instant pot with the onions and garlic and toss well to coat all the rice in the oil. Sauté just until toasty ~ 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the Instant Pot off.
• Add 1 and ¼ cup chicken broth or vegetable broth and salt and pepper to taste. Seal Instant Pot and set it to high pressure cook for 17 minutes. Once the time is up allow for natural release of pressure for 10 minutes. Then, very carefully release the pressure in the Instant Pot manually.
• Fluff with fork and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Please note that your rice will turn a slight purple hue when cooked and this is completely normal.

This recipe will make about 2 cups of cooked black rice. One serving of Instant Pot Black Rice Pilaf is only ½ cup. I know! We were quite sad about that too as we could have eaten the whole darn thing. 

Leftovers, if you have any, can be kept in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. You can reheat the leftovers in the microwave or on stovetop. 

Please make sure that you purchase plain black rice either short grain, long grain or Thai Jasmine style. Do NOT purchase sticky or glutinous black rice as this is very different and requires a different cooking method. 

Make sure you wash/rinse the grains well until the water runs clear and drain really well. Draining is very important as if you have lots of extra water the consistency of your rice might be mushy instead of chewy tender. Just a quick heads up, the purple color may stain countertops or utensils. To prevent that wash them straight away after use.

The ratio is 1 cup of dry black rice to 1.25 cups of broth. Yes, you can increase the ratio amount of both to feed a larger crowd. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1½ cup serving | Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 198mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 0.5IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Instant Pot Black Rice Pilaf appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

We must warn you; this gochujang rice is addictive! Each satisfying bite is packed with kimchi that sweetens when stir fried and has a little kick of spice from the gochujang sauce.  When you use left over rice, like in our recipe for Hong Kong Fried Rice, the little individual grains of rice get a little crispy too. If you like a little drippy fried egg indulgence, you may even need a "personal moment" to enjoy your bowl of Korean egg fried rice!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Are you ready? Just 6 little ingredients to make a delicious lunch, dinner or anytime snack and 2 of the ingredients are optional.

Kimchi

Its an essential Korean ingredient made by fermented vegetables like napa cabbage and daikon with a probiotic and ground Korean chili for a delicious gut friendly addition to your diet. The best part about using kimchi is there is no need to add any aromatics like garlic and onions as it is already packed with flavor and is gluten-free.

After all the holiday indulgencing, getting your gut health back is a high priority. Do you have a huge container like us? Then try our Kimchi Salmon with Rainbow Pickles and Creamy Kimchi Pasta. Once you open a jar of kimchi, it is best to store it in the refrigerator and use within 3 months.

Leftover Rice

Cold rice is the best option and a great way to use up the items in the refrigerator. You can use any type of rice you like such as jasmine, short-grained sushi rice, brown rice, etc. The reason to use cold leftover rice is to prevent the fried rice from getting mushy.

If you use fresh warm rice, stir frying it will just add more moisture and it make it soggy. Leftover rice is firm and more apt to keep the individual grains of rice separate so they can pick up all the flavors of the fried rice.

Gochujang

This is a fermented Korean red Chili paste made from chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder, barley malt powder and salt. This paste is a spicy, savory, and sweet which gives a delicious umami flavor to any gochujang sauce recipes. Bibimbap is not authentic without a good dollop of gochujang sauce mixed in.

If you have an allergen to wheat-based products you will need to investigate alternative brands such as Koko Gochujang or Wegmans gochujang. These two options are both vegan and gluten-free.

In a pinch, you may substitute gochujang with a little miso with Sriracha sauce or Thai chili paste but it does not have the same flavor profile.

Ham

Have you tried our Air Fryer Ham with Cranberry Glaze  recipe? It is fantastic in this gochujang fried rice recipe. A little salty, sweet and mmm… delicious.

Don't have leftover ham, try Spam! However, we highly suggest you stir fry it a little with the kimchi first to give it those little toasty edges. You can also use honey deli ham in a pinch.

To make this recipe vegan, hold the ham. Instead, add in veggies, mushrooms or even a little fried tofu.

Green onions

This fresh ingredient is optional. However, a little pop of green brightens up this Korean crispy rice recipe.

Fried egg

Who can resist a little runny sunny side up egg over fried rice?  So good! It's another optional ingredient. However, once you try it, you will never serve this gochujang pork recipe again without it.

Easy Step by Step Instructions

The most important step is to prep all your ingredients before you heat up your wok or frying pan. Chop up your kimchi, leftover ham and green onion as when you turn on the burner the whole dish will be cooked in about 5 minutes.

• Add oil to pan or wok and add chopped kimchi. Stir fry until all the moisture has absorbed.

• Put a dollop of gochujang sauce in the pan and stir fry until aromatic. You may need to add a little more oil as needed to prevent sticking.

• Add the rice and stir fry until all the grains of rice are coated with gochujang sauce.

• To the fried rice, add the chopped leftover ham and green onions and stir fry until aromatic. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
• If you fancy a fried egg on top, fry up a sunny side up egg.

• Serve up Gochujang fried rice with leftover ham on a plate with or without a fried egg as desired.

Tips for Success

• Always used leftover cold rice. Do not use warm freshly cooked rice or you will end up with soggy gummy rice- not nice!
• Stir fry your kimchi until all the moisture is removed. This prevents your rice from getting soggy.  In addition, it makes the sour spicy kimchi naturally sweet.
• Adjust the amount of gochujang to your preferred spice and heat level.
• Chop your leftover ham in small cubes. It is always nicer to eat stir fries when all the items in the dish are about the same size.
• Mix it up and add any fresh vegetables bits and bobs you have the crisper.
• To make vegan, hold the ham and add mushrooms, fried tofu, or vegetables of choice.
• Traditional gochujang is not gluten-free. If you have celiac or a gluten sensitivity, please try one of the gluten free options like Koko or Wegmans.

How to Serve

Ok, we are not going to lie, we eat it straight from the wok. (smiling) You can certainly eat it plain.

However, if you do not have an egg allergy, you must give the sunny side up egg on top a try. There is something magical about having that runny delicious yolk mix with the savory, spicy and slightly sweet kimchi with rice. Heavenly!

If you were living in Korea, you would be using those gosh darn metal chopsticks to eat this dish and not a fork. Believe if or not, we are very proficient using "wooden" chopsticks. However, if we had to live the rest of our lives eating with only "metal" slippery chopsticks we would be super skinny. Hey, that might be our go to plan for the new year! (smiling) Have you ever tried eating with metal chopsticks?

Did you know this interesting theory? Some say that this tradition of eating with metal chopsticks started a long time ago to make sure that the rulers were not poisoned. Metal chopsticks can easily tarnish when they are exposed to corrosive substances.

No Special Equipment

Feel free to use a wok or a large frying pan for this kimchi fried rice recipe. However, the MOST important thing to remember is DO NOT CROWD THE WOK or PAN.

If you add a lot of ingredients to your wok, you are not stir frying but steaming. That is not the effect you are going for. To achieve the best results, you want to fry the ingredients with lots of room, so they stay dry and crisp. If you plan on doubling this recipe, do it in two separate stir fry sessions.

What to Serve It With?

Gochujang fried rice with leftover ham is a meal all by itself. However, you may want to serve along with these other tasty side dishes or mains.

Sides: When in doubt, more veggies are always a good choice. Try our Garlicky Sesame Stir Fried Green Beans, Stir Fried Romaine Lettuce or 5 Minute Stir Fried Garlic Pea Shoots.

Mains: Korean Beef BBQ Kalbi is extra delicious with a little fried rice and extra kimchi on the side.

Appetizers: Baked Dduk Lavered with Bacon is an oldie but a goodie.

How to store

Do you think you are going to have leftovers? You are an optimist.

If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, please store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Korean kimchi fried rice is delicious in bento boxes and lunches.

We do not suggest freezing your gochujang fried rice with leftover ham. It's a texture thing. If the texture thing does not bother you, you can store in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

More Delicious Rice Recipes

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

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Gochujang Fried Rice with Leftover Ham

The BEST Korean comfort food is homemade Gochujang Fried Rice with Leftover Ham. This easy Korean fried rice can be on your table in 15 minutes flat with just 6 pantry ingredients

Course Mains, Sides

Cuisine Korean

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Calories 512kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• Wok or large frying pan

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  reserve 1 tablespoon to fry egg
• 1 cup kimchi roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons gochujang paste increase as much as desired to reach your desired heat and spice level.
• 2 cups cooked rice (day old cold leftover rice) We used Jasmine white rice but you can use any type of cooked rice like brown, long grain, sushi, etc. Do NOT use instant rice.
• 1 cup ham chopped (or spam) We really love the combination of our slightly sweet cranberry glazed ham with the spicy kimchi. Honey ham is also delicious.
• salt and pepper
  to taste (white pepper)
• 3 green onions chopped - optional
• 2 whole eggs optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Place oil in wok/pan and heat on medium heat. Add chopped kimchi to the pan and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until all of the moisture is gone. This keeps your rice crispy and makes the kimchi sweeter.
• Next, add a little dollop of gochujang paste and stir fry. If sticking occurs, add a little extra oil. 2 teaspoons makes this recipe mild to medium. If you want it spicy, add more gochujang paste to taste.
• Add in cold leftover rice and stir fry until well incorporated. Next, add the chopped ham, season to taste with salt and white pepper. Add the chopped green onion if desired and stir fry until all the rice is coated. If you like your rice a little crunchy stir fry for a couple of minutes longer.

How to Serve

• You can serve the Korean fried rice as is or serve with a sunny side up egg. The fried egg is optional.
• To make a Korean fried egg, turn your burner on to medium heat. Place a little oil in a heated pan and break open the egg into the pan. Fry the egg sunny side up for about 2.5 minutes or until the white of the egg is set but the yellow yolk is still runny.
• Serve with or without a fried egg on top. Garnish with a few sliced green onions, if desired and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Nutritional information has been calculated with eggs and green onions.

Leftovers can be stored for up to 3 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. Freezing is not recommended.

Tips for Success

• Always used leftover cold rice. Do not use warm freshly cooked rice or you will end up with soggy gummy rice- not nice!
• Stir fry your kimchi until all the moisture is removed. This prevents your rice from getting soggy. In addition, it makes the sour spicy kimchi naturally sweet.
• Adjust the amount of gochujang to your preferred spice and heat level.
• Chop your leftover ham in small cubes. It is always nicer to eat stir fries when all the items in the dish are about the same size. We really enjoy the sweeter cranberry glazed air fryer ham or a honey ham as it is a nice flavor profile with the spicy kimchi.
• Mix it up and add any fresh vegetables bits and bobs you have the crisper.
• To make vegan, hold the ham and add mushrooms, fried tofu, or vegetables of choice.
• Traditional gochujang is not gluten-free. If you have celiac or a gluten sensitivity, please try one of the gluten free options like Koko or Wegmans.
• If you want to make this recipe vegan, hold the ham and eggs.  Instead, add stir fried vegetables, mushrooms or fried tofu. 
• If you need a substitute for gochujang paste you can mix 1 teaspoon of miso paste to 1 tablespoon of sriracha sauce or use Thai chili paste. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 512kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 838mg | Potassium: 325mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 195IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Gochujang Fried Rice with Leftover Ham appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

Sometimes, life is just too busy, or you don't have enough burners to make it the traditional way. Using a pressure cooker (Instant Pot) makes this creamy pumpkin risotto recipe super easy. How simple? A quick sauté, 6 minutes in the pressure cooker, and you are done.

No more standing and stirring while adding broth to the risotto a little at a time (of course unless you want to). If you want to get into the Zen of risotto making, try our Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Saffron or Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto.

No pressure cooker, No worries! We have included stove top instruction in the recipe too.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Arborio Rice is a short-grained rice named after the area in Italy where it was first cultivated. This special type of rice has more starch than the long grained Jasmine rice we use to cook our Hong Kong Fried Rice or our Vegan Curried Rice. When the Arborio rice cooks, it slowly releases its starch. You end up with a firmer al dente texture but creamier rice.

You can purchase Arborio rice at a regular grocery store, and it is found in the rice isle.

VERY IMPORTANT TIP! Never rinse or wash Arborio rice. Doing so will wash away all the starch content that gives risotto its delicious texture.

We haven't tried substituting any other type of grain in this pumpkin sage risotto. However, a potential substitution may be sushi rice, as it also has a high starch and amylose content.

Pumpkin (or Squash) is the second key ingredient. We used a fresh 'pie pumpkin' like in our Thai Pumpkin Curry.  However, you could also use a butternut squash, kabocha like in our Air Fryer Kabocha Squash with Curried Sauce, acorn or other favorite winter squash of choice. If you want to save time, you can purchase the already peeled and chopped fresh squash. A final alternative is to add chopped defrosted frozen squash or pumpkin.

Fresh is always best. If you don't have fresh pumpkin or squash, you could add plain (no sugar added) pureed canned pumpkin at the end of the cooking process.

An important thing to note is that each pumpkin/squash has a different water content. You may have to add a little more broth or add a little more parmesan to get it to the consistency you desire. We will discuss all about that in the recipe below.

White Wine, like a dry sherry or a nice chardonnay, is perfect to deglaze the instant pot. However, you can exchange with more vegetable broth instead.

Parmigiano-Reggiano - The King of Cheeses! Instant pot pumpkin risotto is extra delicious with freshly grated parmesan. If you want to make your risotto vegan, you can swap out with a little nutritional yeast and leave out the cheese.

Brown Butter Sage and Chestnut Sauce

Do you ever smile or moan when you take a bite of dinner? If not, this is going to be one of those times. This delectable sage infused brown butter sauce with roasted chestnuts is killer good. Seriously, we could eat it just by the spoonful.  It's delicious drizzled over a bowl of creamy pumpkin risotto. There are 3 just ingredients…

1. Butter - Melted and transformed into a delicious brown butter that is sometimes called "beurre noisette" in French.  When the butter is melted and the milk solids solidify at the bottom of the pan, the butter becomes nutty and flavorful.
2. Fresh Sage Leaves - Frying sage leaves in butter will delight your senses with the most amazing aromas of fall. These are used to garnish the dish.
3. Air Fried Roasted Chestnuts - Taking plain Italian pumpkin risotto to the next level.  Toasty and nutty with that little contrast of texture.

Step By Step Risotto

• Place the instant pot on the sauté setting. Add olive oil and aromatics (onions and garlic) to the instant pot, then sauté until aromatic.
• Add in the Arborio rice and sauté until all the rice are coated in olive oil and toasty.

• Toss in the diced pumpkin/squash cubes of choice.
• Stir well.

• Season with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves.
• Pour in vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you do not need to keep vegetarian).

• Pressure cook on high for 6 minutes.
• Add in grated parmesan cheese and a little extra broth if needed to get the right texture.

Brown Butter Sauce

Are you getting hungry? The addition of brown butter sage and roasted chestnut sauce takes this recipe over the top. It's so good! Try it drizzled over our Roasted Butternut and Carrot Ginger Soup! This step is optional.

• Try our recipe for Air Fryer Roasted Chestnuts. Recipe for baked and boiled chestnuts included. You can peel and store the chestnuts in a sealed container in the refrigerator a couple days in advance.
• Roughly chop chestnuts

• Start by adding butter to a saucepan and melt.
• Add in fresh sage leaves and fry in your butter.  Fry until crispy. Remove and set aside (you will use fried sage leaves as a garnish).

• Gently simmer butter until foamy and the butter's milk solids start to turn golden brown.
• Add in the chopped chestnuts and stir for one minute, then set aside.

Equipment

Do you have a pressure cooker? It is such a handy device. It makes cooking risotto a breeze (we have a 6-quart Duo Instant Pot model).  You can sauté and pressure cook all in one device. Whether you want to make Pressure Cooker Oxtail Stew, side of Instant Pot Black Rice Pilaf, or whip up a quick batch of Instant Pot Lentil Ham Stew, it cuts down on cooking time and makes everything super tender.

Tips for Success

• Do NOT wash Arborio rice before cooking. The starches are what make risotto creamy and delicious.
• Toast the Arborio rice in the pressure cooker (instant pot) with the aromatics and olive oil using the sauté function. Do not burn the rice!  Coat and toast all the rice grains with olive oil.  This process gives the risotto a protective coating that allows the rice to absorb the liquids without getting mushy.
• The Instant Pot takes a while to heat up or come to pressure - about 10 to 15 minutes. If you warm up the broth in the microwave first (just take the chill out), it speeds up the process.
• Don't add the Parmesan cheese until the very end of the cooking process.
• The perfect consistency for risotto is not too loose and not too thick - but a happy medium. If you run a spoon on the bottom of the instant pot, it should leave a line before gently starting to return. The texture should be creamy, but with body to hold its shape. Watch our video in the recipe card below to learn more.
• Make sure to have the extra cups of vegetable broth set aside. Once the pressure cook process is complete, you may need to add more broth. If your risotto is too thin, add in a little more parmesan cheese. The reason for this difference is due to the different types of pumpkins and squash have different moisture levels. Do not add more than you need as the rice will continue to absorb the liquid.
• Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto should have a slight chew, but the mixture should be creamy.
• As your risotto sits and starts to cool, it gets thicker. It is best to serve right away. 

Frequent Asked Questions

More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes

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Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto

Our easy Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto is drizzled with a decadent brown butter sage and Air Fryer Roasted Chestnuts sauce for the creamiest coziest vegetarian meal ever.

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Instant Pot Heat Up Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 31 minutes minutes

Servings 8 bowls

Calories 422kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker/ Instant Pot

Ingredients

Prep for Chestnut Brown Butter Sauce (optional) - Can be made a couple of days in advance

• 15 Air Fried Roasted Chestnuts roasted and peeled (We roasted and peeled our chestnuts the day before and stored in the refrigerator)

Pumpkin Risotto

• 3 and ½ cups pumpkin heaping cups (about 1 pound) of raw, peeled and sliced in 1 inch cubes (we used a pie pumpkin but also super delicious with butternut squash, kabocha, acorn or other desired winter squash)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 cup onion
  peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
  peeled and minced
• 2 cups Arborio rice uncooked (Do NOT rinse!)
• ½ cup dry white wine or dry sherry
• 4.5 cups vegetable stock Not Including an extra 1 to 2 cups just in case you need to thin it out or want to reheat later. We used a low sodium brand. In addition, we microwaved the broth for just a minute or 2 to take the chill out- not hot just luke warm)
• 2 cups vegetable stock These are the extra cups described above. Used to thin the risotto if needed and/or reheat later.
• 1 teaspoons thyme
  dried or 1 tablespoon fresh
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¾ cup parmesan cheese
  freshly grated (we also like to have a ¼ cup extra to garnish for serving)

Brown Butter Sage Chestnut Sauce (Optional BUT so Good)

• 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons or ½ cup) if you use salted butter, there is no need to season. On the other hand, if you use unsalted butter, please add a little dash of salt to taste.
• 4-6 whole sage leaves fresh
• 15 Air Fryer Roasted Chestnuts should already have been previously roasted and peeled (You can do this step a couple of days in advance)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• If you plan on making the delicious Brown Butter Sage and Chestnut Sauce, roast and peel chestnuts first. You can do this up to a couple days in advance. The brown butter sauce is totally optional but really takes this recipe to the next level. If you do not plan on making the sauce, skip to the next step.
• Peel and chop pumpkin or favorite winter squash (like butternut, acorn, kabocha, etc.) into one inch cubes. We had about 3.5 heaping cups or about 1 pound total. Set aside.
• Set your Instant Pot (pressure cooker) to the sauté function. Add in olive oil, onions, garlic and sauté until aromatic and translucent.
• Do NOT wash the rice! Add the raw dry Arborio rice to the aromatics in the instant pot. Stir and toast Arborio rice for 1 to 2 minutes or until all of the rice are well coated with oil.
• Add peeled and cubed pumpkin or squash in the instant pot. Season with salt, pepper and thyme leaves.
• Pour ½ cup of dry white wine or sherry over the rice and pumpkin in the instant pot to deglaze pan. Stir well. Turn off sauté function on instant pot.
• Add in 4.5 cups low sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you do not need to keep vegetarian) (Optional: If you want to cut down on the time for the Instant pot to heat up, microwave the broth for just a minute or two to take the chill out so that it is lukewarm).
• Seal the instant pot (or pressure cooker) with lid and make sure the nozzle is set to NO VENT. Set the Instant pot on high for 6 minutes. It takes the instant pot about 10 minutes to get up to pressure and heat up.

Make Brown Butter Sage and Chestnut Sauce (optional - but so GOOD!)

• While your pumpkin risotto is cooking, make the chestnut sauce. Place butter in a small sauce pan and slowly melt over medium low heat.
• Add fresh sage leaves to fry until crispy. Only takes 1 to 2 minutes. Remove sage leaves from pan and set aside
• Continue to cook and stir the butter until it gets foamy. The milk solids from the butter will turn golden brown and it will be golden.
• Add chopped roasted chestnuts and stir into brown butter sauce and sauté for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat source and set aside.

Finish the Dish

• When the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) is done cooking, Carefully, use the quick release method to vent out steam. Use oven mittens and point the release nozzle away from your face and others! Do NOT open the lid until the plunger has depressed or you know that the pressure is completely released.
• Add parmesan cheese to the risotto and stir. The pumpkin cubes will start to fall apart and combine with the rice. Assess the texture.

  The perfect consistency for risotto is not too loose and not too thick but a happy medium. If you run a spoon on the bottom of the instant pot, it should leave a line and gently start to return. The texture should be creamy, but with body to hold its shape. Watch our video in the recipe card below to see it in action.

  You may need to add more broth to get the right consistency. If your risotto is too thin, add in a little more parmesan cheese. As your risotto sits and starts to cool, it gets thicker. It is best to serve right away.

  Check seasoning. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
• Place a large scoop of the creamy risotto in each of the serving bowls. Spoon over a tablespoon of the brown butter sage and chestnut sauce or so. Garnish with a little extra grated parmesan cheese and fried sage leaves. Enjoy!

Alternative Stove Top Instructions in the Recipe Notes Below

Video

Notes

Tips for Success

• Do NOT wash Arborio rice before cooking. The starches are what make risotto creamy and delicious.
• Toast the Arborio rice in the pressure cooker (instant pot) with the aromatics and olive oil using the sauté function. Do not burn the rice but instead coat and toast all the rice grains with olive oil. This process gives the risotto a protective coating that allows the rice to absorb the liquids without getting mushy.
• The instant pot (pressure cooker) takes a while to heat up or come to pressure - about 10 to 15 minutes. If you warm up the broth in the microwave first (just take the chill out), it speeds up the process.
• Don't add the Parmesan cheese until the very end of the cooking process.
• The perfect consistency for risotto is not too loose and not too thick but a happy medium. If you run a spoon on the bottom of the instant pot, it should leave a line and gently start to return. The texture should be creamy, but with body to hold its shape. 
• Once the pressure cook process is complete, you may need to add more broth. If your risotto is too thin, add in a little more parmesan cheese. The reason for this difference is due to the different types of pumpkins and squash have different moisture levels. Do not add more than you need as the rice will continue to absorb the liquid.
• Risotto should have a slight chew, but the mixture should be creamy

How to Store

Risotto is best enjoyed hot and right away. However, it can be stored covered in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

How to Reheat 

Risotto can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave. You will need to add a little more vegetable broth to get it loosened up.

Can I freeze risotto?

Freezing is not recommended as rice gets hard and the texture is not pleasant. However, try making Risotto balls (Arancini) with the leftovers. Roll risotto in a ball and coat with egg and seasoned breadcrumbs and shallow fry or air fry until toasty golden and delicious. 

Substitutions

A time saving technique is to buy raw, peeled and chopped pumpkin or winter squash from the grocery store already prepared for you. In a pinch, you can substitute with frozen squash or pumpkin that has been thawed. As a last resort, you can add Plain canned/tinned pumpkin (without the pumpkin seasoning) AFTER the risotto is cooked. Fresh always tastes the best but we are all about using what you have on hand. 

Stove Top Alternative

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, try this pumpkin risotto recipe the old traditional way.

1. Warm up your vegetable broth on the stove top.
2. Pour yourself a glass of wine - very important step!
3. Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil in a Dutch oven (or large deep pan/skillet with lid). Then, add the pumpkin or butternut squash to the pan and sauté for one minute. Add ½ cup of vegetable broth, cover and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until tender. Remove lid and sauté until liquid evaporates.
4. Add in Arborio rice and toss until all the rice grains are covered in oil.
5. Deglaze the pan with a ½ glass of white wine.
6. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
7. Add one ladle of broth at a time to the risotto.
8. Slowly stir the risotto, meditate, and enjoy your wine, until it is absorbed. Repeat that process until the rice is al dente and creamy.
9. Add in Parmesan cheese and enjoy while hot.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 422kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 783mg | Potassium: 347mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 5045IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

This lemon rice side dish is going to be your families' new go to recipe. The best part is that it can be made all in one pot! You're going to love the texture of the jasmine rice, the savory aromatics and the broth. When the bright lemon and fresh parsley notes hit your tongue, you'll be hooked. How much do you want to bet you're going to want seconds?

8 Reasons to Love Lemon Pepper Rice

1. Budget friendly
2. Easy Pantry meal
3. One of our favorites from our 17 Pantry Recipes for Emergency Preparedness
4. Gluten-free
5. Dairy-free
6. Vegan option
7. One-pan recipe
8. Less than 30-minute side dish or vegan main

Ingredients

Jasmine rice - is our favorite; but you can exchange with short grain rice or even brown rice. If you choose to use brown rice, you will need to increase the water and cook time for the recipe.

Fun fact: Did you know that the standard Japanese cup is less than an imperial [US] cup? 1 cup Japanese (cup) = 0.85 cup US (cup). For this recipe you can use either a Japanese cup or an American measurement cup for this recipe. The reason being, is long as you use the same measurement tool for both the rice and the water, the ratio for rice and water will remain the same and the added aromatics do not need to be changed.

Aromatics - of course GARLIC and sauteed onions really make this simple rice dish go to the next level.

Fresh Ground Black Pepper, and lots of it, or to your taste. So simple, but yet quite tasty.

Lemon zest makes this one pan side dish super fresh and delicious. If you prefer, you can add lime zest or even Meyer lemon zest to the lemon garlic rice instead. We always support using what one has on hand.

Fresh Parsley or dried parsley or even mixed Italian dried herbs like basil, oregano and thyme.

Chicken Broth but you can also use vegetable broth or water to keep this recipe vegan.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) coats each grain of rice to keep them separated and gives the rice pilaf a delicious toasted nutty flavor. You can also use butter or vegan butter if desired.

Garbanzo beans also known as chickpeas are a delicious addition and add an extra boost of protein. Have you ever tried our Roasted Crunchy Garbanzo Beans for a healthy snack?

How to Make Stovetop Rice Pilaf?

There are 4 really important rules to make the BEST Lemon Pepper Rice pilaf.

1. Rinse the rice under cold water until it's clear. The white powder residue on the rice is starch.  This starch can make the rice stick together. A rice colander is great for any kitchen. Place the rice in the colander in the kitchen sink and use your fingers to mix the rice until the water runs clear. Alternatively, you can rinse your rice in any pot or large bowl. Drain the water out carefully with the lid to capture any escaped rice. Be careful! Raw rice and plumbing do not go well together. In addition, don't put rice in the garbage disposal as this can harm it.
2. Coat the rice well in the olive oil before adding the broth. This procedure keeps the rice separated and gives the lemon pepper rice a delicious toasted nutty flavor. We used the same technique on our Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Saffron.
3. Make sure you have a tight-fitting lid without any vent holes to steam the rice. Now, don't you be peeking whilst the rice is steaming. If you open the lid, you let all the steam out.
4. Jasmine long grain rice to broth/water ratio is 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of broth/water. After you add the broth to the rice, put on the lid, bring to a very light boil and then simmer gently for 12 minutes. Do not peek. Then, remove from heat and let the chickpea rice rest for 10 minutes with the lid on before fluffing with a fork or rice paddle.

What to serve with Mediterranean Greek Rice?

Our deconstructed Greek vegan chickpea lemon rice is absolutely fantastic alongside grilled chicken, Herb Marinated Rack of Lamb or Mediterranean Red Snapper Packets. Give our lemon pepper rice a try in our Parsley Lemon Shrimp Wraps or even as a vegan main dish with an Easy Tabbouleh Lebanese Salad. Be sure to try our Greek Feta Yogurt Snack Bites as a delicious starter.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Delicious Rice Recipes

Hong Kong Fried Rice [Restuarant Style + VIDEO]

Chorizo and Shrimp Fried Rice

Curried Harvest Black Forbidden Rice

Vegan Curried Rice

Kimchi Pantry Fried Brown Rice

Coconut Rice Pudding with Cardamom Spiced Honey Pears

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

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Lemon Pepper Rice

Lemon PepperRice is a fresh, easy, less than 30-minute, Greek side dish tossed with garbanzo beans (chickpeas), parsley, bright lemon zest and pairs perfectly with our Mediterranean chicken kabobs.

Course Sides

Cuisine Greek

Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose, Vegan

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes minutes

Rest Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 27 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 278kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• rice colander
• medium pot with tight fitting lid
• rice paddle or wooden spoon

Ingredients

• 2 cups jasmine rice long grain white rice (uncooked - raw)
• 3 cups broth chicken or vegetable (gluten-free if needed)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• ½ cup onion (approximately ½ small onion) peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
  peeled and minced (or 1 teaspoon dried ground garlic)
• salt and pepper
  to taste. We like to use LOTS of fresh ground pepper to give this recipe a little kick.
• 1.5 tablespoons lemon zest
  
• 15 ounces garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 2 tablespoons parsley garnish, finely chopped - optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Place (uncooked, raw) jasmine long grained white rice in a rice colander or a pan and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Drain well and set aside.
• Place a medium pot on the stove burner and set to medium low heat. Add in olive oil and onions and garlic and sauté just until aromatic.
• Add the rice to the pot and mix well so that each grain of rice is covered in the oil.
• Next, add either chicken or vegetable broth to the pot and stir. Once you see a couple of small bubbles, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and turn burner down to simmer. Steam rice at a simmer for 12 minutes. Do not take the lid off the pot. No peeking as you will let all the steam out. The steam is cooking the rice.

  At this point the rice should be cooked and no broth should be remaining in the pot. (If you still have broth left in the pot, maybe your heat was not high enough and you need to cook a little bit longer. If your rice is dry but still not cooked, your heat may have been too high. No worries just add a couple of tablespoon of water and cook for a couple of minutes longer.)

  Remove the pot from the burner and keep the lid on and leave it rest for 10 minutes.
• Add garbanzo beans (chickpeas), lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste and parsley and stir well.
• Serve Lemon Pepper Rice while hot. Garnish with parsley and fresh lemon slices. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

There are 4 really important rules to make the BEST Lemon Pepper Rice pilaf.

1. Rinse the rice under cold water until it's clear. The white powder residue on the rice is starch. This starch can make the rice stick together. A rice colander is great for any kitchen. Place the rice in the colander in the kitchen sink and use your fingers to mix the rice until the water runs clear. Alternatively, you can rinse your rice in any pot or large bowl. Drain the water out carefully with the lid to capture any escaped rice. Be careful! Raw rice and plumbing do not go well together. In addition, don't put rice in the garbage disposal as this can harm it. 
2. Coat the rice well in the olive oil before adding the broth. This procedure keeps the rice separated and gives the lemon pepper rice a delicious toasted nutty flavor. We used the same technique on our Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Saffron.
3. Make sure you have a tight-fitting lid without any vent holes to steam the rice. Now, don't you be peeking whilst the rice is steaming. If you open the lid, you let all the steam out.
4. Jasmine long grain rice to broth/water ratio is 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of broth/water. After you add the broth to the rice, put on the lid, bring to a very light boil and then simmer gently for 12 minutes. Do not peek. Then, remove from heat and let it rest for 10 minutes with the lid on before fluffing with a fork or rice paddle.

To keep this lemon rice recipe vegan, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Use gluten free broth if celiac. 

If you are using brown rice, basmati rice or short grain rice, be sure to follow the specific water to rice ratios on the package. Directions for this recipe are for using jasmine long grain white rice. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 359mg | Potassium: 218mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 287IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Lemon Pepper Rice (Greek Side Dish + VIDEO) appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

World's BEST Comfort Food: Hong Kong Fried Rice

Chinese shrimp fried rice has to be one of the world's best comfort food. Carbs, aromatics and vegetables in a bowl is like getting a warm hug from mom just like our recipe for our Golden Spiced Noodle Soup. Most of the day's problems will melt right away.

The fragrant aromatics of garlic, ginger and onion engulf the individual rice grains that are slightly smokey and savory. In addition, the vegetables are crisp, and the egg is finely incorporated into the rice. The succulent cooked shrimp have that crunchy, firm and addictive crisp texture like in our Clean Eating Shrimp Stir Fry recipe. Each and every bite makes you want more.

Cantonese fried rice is filling, flavorful and easy to make. In addition, it is quite budget friendly as you can use up all the bits and bobs of leftover proteins, vegetables, aromatics and rice in one delicious recipe. We don't know about you, but we dislike wasting food when there are so many in the world that go without.

What is the "The Breath of the Wok" (Wok Hei)?

Have you ever heard of the breath of the wok "wok hei"? Wok hei is a term referred to describe the slight smokey flavor and taste that comes alive when food, like fried rice, is stir fried in a wok.  We learned this process quite quickly while being taught by a little old Cantonese lady. She would beat you on your shoulders with her cooking chopsticks if you did not do it properly. Let me tell you those little wooden sticks sting. It forces you to learn REAL fast the tricks of the trade.

You might not be able to achieve complete breath of the wok unless you are in an industrial commercial kitchen with huge seasoned woks, gas fire and intense heat. However, you can certainly make the BEST healthy shrimp fried rice in your neighborhood with these tricks and tips we are going to share with you today.

Cooking Hacks for Making the BEST Cantonese Fried Rice

Rice cooking hacks

• Use leftover cold rice to make fried rice. Cold rice is less likely to stick together.
• If steaming rice to be used in a fried rice recipe, reduce the amount of water. For example, if your recipe for jasmine rice calls for 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, reduce to 1.25 cups of water. (If you have just leftover rice made the traditional way, that is A-Ok too. We just like to use our fingers to break it up a little bit before adding it to the wok to cook.)
• We cool the rice in a sheet pan so it less likely to stick together. Rice that has been refrigerated at least 2 hours or overnight works best. Feel free to use jasmine rice, short grain sushi rice, brown rice, basmati rice like in our Hawaiian Luau Rice or any leftover you have on hand. However, Uncle Ben's converted parboiled rice is not an option as it will have horrible texture results.

Wok Cooking Hacks

• Are you trying to cram everything into one small pan? It would be better to split up into a couple of different batches. Do not over crowd the pan or wok. It is best to cook in batches and use the largest wok or pan you have. The food must maintain a constant temperature. If you overcrowd the pan, you are going to be steaming and not stir frying. The items in the wok must have space to move and stir fry.
• The wok or pan heat needs to be gradually increased until it is a very high heat, almost to the point of smoking.
• Do not add the oil to the wok (or pan) until it is hot. It is best to add the oil just before you add your ingredients.
• If you add too little oil, your rice will stick to the pan. On the other hand, if you add too much oil, your fried rice with taste deep fried. A well-seasoned wok will help with this.
• Gas stove top vs electric stovetop is preferred as that bit of flame that hits the moisture of the food that mixes with the oil gives this Authentic Chinese Fried Rice its delicious smokey profile.
• Keep that wok moving over high heat. Stir fry quickly so that all the grains of rice have contact with the heat of the pan.

Ingredient Cooking Hacks

• The amount of moisture in your vegetables will make or break your attempts at making homemade shrimp fried rice. Do not choose juicy vegetables like tomatoes to add to your fried rice or it will be wet and gummy. Choose firm crisp vegetables. We chose to add thawed well dried frozen mixed vegetables and quick cooking chopped snow peas for our recipe as they do not require pre-cooking and are very low in moisture.
• If you choose raw firm vegetables like carrots and celery for your Hong Kong Fried Rice, you will need to stir fry these first. Stir fry your vegetables until firm crisp, before adding the rest of your ingredients. These vegetables take longer than everything else to cook.
• When it is time to add the soy sauce, we like to move the rice to the center of the pan and pour the soy sauce around the exterior or the wok or pan. The purpose is to reduce the moisture of the soy sauce quickly. Do not add too much soy sauce as it will make your rice mushy. Use salt and white pepper to finish seasoning to your desired level. Wait, just a few seconds, before stirring to get the temperature of the wok stable. Then, super quickly get that wok moving - FAST. If you have a HUGE commercial sized wok like in a restaurant, there is no need to bring your rice to the center of the wok as there is such a huge cooking surface area.
• Have everything chopped and ready to go before you heat up your wok or pan. Mise en place is big in Chinese cooking. Once that wok gets hot, you will be done cooking in less than 5 minutes.
• Around the Chinese New Year, we love to put a tablespoon of XO Sauce in our fried rice. You can thank us later. If you like XO Sauce, be sure to try our recipe for Beef Noodles with Spicy XO Sauce.

How to Make Egg Fried Rice Cantonese Style?

Do you like big egg chunks or flaky bits of egg? Unlike other fried rice versions from around the world, Hong Kong Fried Rice is known for these delicate flakes of egg, instead of egg chunks or egg slices. For a better visual on how to achieve this, be sure to check out our video in the recipe card below.

• After all the ingredients have been added to your pantry fried rice, it's time to add the egg.
• Make an open well in the middle of the wok or pan by scooping up the rice to the sides of the wok. Add a little extra oil to prevent sticking.
• Pour the beaten egg into the well.
• Stir the beaten egg in the well vigorously.
• In one purposefully movement, pull the rice over the egg with your spatula as this heat cooks the rice.
• Then, in a flash, get that wok moving and toss the rice quickly and effectively. This is the movement that turns the cooked into those delicate egg flakes.
• Practice makes perfect, so cut yourself some slack on the first try.

Yangzhou Rice vs Shrimp Fried Rice

Have you ever had traditional Yangzhou rice (揚州炒飯)? It sometimes called Yangchow fried rice or Yeung Chow fried rice.

The smokey flavor from the wok and delicate sweetness from the BBQ Chinese pork (char siu) is completely addictive. The addition of char siu and NO soy sauce makes this recipe different than our Hong Kong Fried Rice. Grabbing a little BBQ pork from the wet market is so easy to do in Asia and is so delicious.  However, getting your hands-on char siu is not so easy elsewhere in the world. This is the reason we intentionally left if out of our Cantonese fried rice recipe. Generally, Yangzhou rice is seasoned with just salt, white pepper and the essence from the wok.

7 Main Ingredient Components

Woohoo, it's clean out the refrigerator day! We always determine what ingredients we have on hand by doing a little foraging in the refrigerator and pantry. Then, we decide what flavors or aromatics we will be using. Your pantry will determine what kind of fried rice you will be making depending on the things you find during your scavenger hunt. However, these 7 main components are important for any type of fried rice you decide to make.

1. Oil is required to get the delicious crunch on the fried rice and prevent sticking. A light flavored oil is best.
2. Cold leftover Rice. Chilled rice will turn the rice grains firm and get rid of the excess moisture. They will also be much easier to separate.  
3. Aromatics like garlic, ginger and onions. Aromatics work by dispersing the flavors and essence into the oil and then that oil coats the rice.
4. Seasonings such as soy sauce or tamari, if you need it gluten-free, sesame oil, salt and white pepper. If you like your fried rice spicy, be sure to add in a little Homemade Sichuan chili oil.
5. Vegetables - check out your crisper and use up any little bits and bobs of veggies. After all, this rice recipe is about cleaning out the refrigerator. We love adding a little bit of Chinese pickle for that extra spice. However, that is completely optional.
6. Protein - shrimp, egg, char siu, tofu, beef, etc. are all fabulous. Clean out the refrigerator!
7. Garnishes like green onions are very delicious addition.

Order of Operations

The time frame and sequence that you place the ingredients in the wok/pan to cook matters. After you have all of your ingredient's mise en place (chopped up and ready to go and organized), heat up the wok or pan WITHOUT oil. Once your wok or pan is very hot and just before it starts to smoke, add the oil.

Then, add the aromatics and fry quickly just until you can smell the lovely flavors touch your nose. If you love garlicky rice, be sure to try our Kimchi Pantry Fried Rice. Add the shrimp, meats or proteins of choice and fry until golden brown and flavor the dish. Remove meats or seafood and set aside.

Next, add your crunchy vegetables first then your softer items later. Use thawed frozen mixed vegetables and chopped snow peas that are quick to cook. Therefore, we did not need to fry them first. Add your cold rice into your wok and proteins back into pan. Quickly stir fry making sure that you separate all the rice pieces so the aromatic oils and flavorings from the proteins have a chance to mingle with each strand of rice.

Finally, add your seasonings. Pour the soy sauce on the outside rim of the rice and let the sauce completely evaporate before stirring around in the rice. It keeps your rice dry. Taste. Adjust seasoning by adding salt and white pepper to taste. If you wish to add sesame oil add now. Next add your egg, if desired. Finally, add your garnishes.

Hong Kong Fried Rice is about one of the simplest last-minute dishes you can make if you have some basic staples in your home. It's fast, easy, cheap and delicious. Come with us and learn how to make fried rice from today's refrigerator and pantry exploration.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Fried Rice Recipes from Around the World

Shrimp and Chorizo Fried Rice

Curried Harvest Black Forbidden Rice

Middle Eastern Rice and Lentils

Vegan Curried Rice

Vegan Chickpea Lemon Rice

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

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Hong Kong Fried Rice

HongKong Fried Rice is an easy essential restaurant style Chinese stir fry recipe to make at home with shrimp, egg, vegetables and leftover rice.

Course Mains, Sides

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Calories 516kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• Wok or large frying pan
• spatula or cooking chopsticks

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon oil
  reserve half of oil for addition of rice and cooking of the egg.
• ¼ cup onion
  chopped
• 1 inch ginger
  knob peeled and grated
• 2-3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• 5 oz shrimp small/medium peeled, vein and tail removed
• 2 cups rice
  cooked day old cold rice ( we used Thai Jasmine long grain rice but you can use any kind you desire)
• ¼ cup Chinese pickled vegetables optional
• ½ cup mixed vegetables previously frozen but thawed, drained and dried well with paper towels. (carrots, peas, corn, etc.)
• ½ cup snow peas chopped - raw
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari sauce to keep gluten free
• salt
  to taste
• ⅛ teaspoon white pepper or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  
• 1 egg
  optional
• 3 tablespoon green onions chopped as garnish - optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• In a wok or large pan, turn on burner to medium/high heat and slowly heat to a high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil to wok or pan.
• Add aromatics such as onion, ginger and garlic and fry just until the aroma hits your nose.About 1 minute. Do not burn garlic or otherwise it will have a bitter taste.
• Place prepared shrimp(or other proteins as desired) into the pan. Stir fry shrimp until no longer translucent.If frying meats, cook until just golden brown moving your wok fast. Remove shrimp or other protein products from the pan and set aside.
• If you are cleaning out the refrigerator, add any raw uncooked firm vegetables to the pan first. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until vegetables are aldente. Keep your vegetables moving in the pan. However, we chose to use thawed and dried frozen mixed vegetables and quick cooking chopped snow peas. You do not need to stir fry these first as they are quick cooking. We will be adding these later in the recipe to keep them crisp.  
• Add your rice to the wok or pan and separate so that all rice pieces are coated with the oil and flavorings. Next, only if desired, add in Chinese pickles. (Totally optional but we love that little funky flavor it gives the fried rice. If you wanted to add XO sauce, we would add a tablespoon now.) Keep the contents in the pan moving
• Add thawed previously frozen mixed vegetables that have been dried well and chopped snow peas and stir fry in the rice.
• Move the rice to the center of your wok or pan. Add the soy sauce (tamari) around the exterior edges of the rice and leave it set for a few seconds until it evaporates. Then get that wok moving. Add salt, white pepper and sesame oil to taste. Keep the contents in the pan moving.
• Add the cooked shrimp or proteins back into the wok or pan and toss.
• Move your rice to the sides of the pan to create a well. Add the beaten egg to the well. Let the egg stand sit for just a second. Then, quickly stir the egg well until it starts to pull together. Now comes the fun part. Take your spatula and flip the rice over the egg mixture and really get that wok moving. Your goal is to have little thin strands of egg mixed in with your Hong Kong fried rice.
• Add chopped green onions, give it a quick stir fry and enjoy hot.

Video

Notes

Rice cooking hacks

• Use leftover cold rice to make fried rice. Cold rice is less likely to stick together.
• If steaming rice to be used in a fried rice recipe, reduce the amount of water. For example, if your recipe for jasmine rice calls for 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, reduce to 1.25 cups of water. (If you have just leftover rice made the traditional way, that is A-Ok too. We just like to use our fingers to break it up a little bit before adding it to the wok to cook.)
• We cool the rice in a sheet pan so it less likely to stick together. Rice that has been refrigerated at least 2 hours or overnight works best. Feel free to use jasmine rice, short grain sushi rice, brown rice, basmati rice like in our Hawaiian Luau Rice or any leftover you have on hand. However, Uncle Ben's converted parboiled rice is not an option as it will have horrible texture results.

Wok Cooking Hacks

• Do not over crowd the pan or wok. It is best to cook in batches and use the largest wok or pan you have. The food must maintain a constant temperature. If you overcrowd the pan, you are going to be steaming and not stir frying. The items in the wok must have space to move and stir fry.
• The wok or pan heat needs to be gradually increased until it is a very high heat, almost to the point of smoking.
• Do not add the oil to the wok (or pan) until it is hot. It is best to add the oil just before you add your ingredients.
• If you add too little oil, your rice will stick to the pan. On the other hand, if you add too much oil, your fried rice with taste deep fried. A well-seasoned wok will help with this.
• Gas stove top vs electric stovetop is preferred as that bit of flame that hits the moisture of the food that mixes with the oil gives this Authentic Chinese Fried Rice its delicious smokey profile.
• Keep that wok moving over high heat. Stir fry quickly so that all the grains of rice have contact with the heat of the pan.

Ingredient Cooking Hacks

• The amount of moisture in your vegetables will make or break your attempts at making homemade shrimp fried rice. Do not choose juicy vegetables like tomatoes to add to your fried rice or it will be wet and gummy. Choose firm crisp vegetables. We chose to add thawed well dried frozen mixed vegetables and quick cooking chopped snow peas for our recipe as they do not require pre-cooking and are very low in moisture.
• If you choose raw firm vegetables like carrots and celery for your Hong Kong Fried Rice, you will need to stir fry these first. Stir fry your vegetables until firm crisp, before adding the rest of your ingredients. These vegetables take longer than everything else to cook.
• When it is time to add the soy sauce, we like to move the rice to the center of the pan and pour the soy sauce around the exterior or the wok or pan. The purpose is to reduce the moisture of the soy sauce quickly. Do not add too much soy sauce as it will make your rice mushy. Use salt and white pepper to finish seasoning to your desired level. Wait, just a few seconds, before stirring to get the temperature of the wok stable. Then, super quickly get that wok moving - FAST. If you have a HUGE commercial sized wok like in a restaurant, there is no need to bring your rice to the center of the wok as there is such a huge cooking surface area.
• Have everything chopped and ready to go before you heat up your wok or pan. Mise en place is big in Chinese cooking. Once that wok gets hot, you will be done cooking in less than 5 minutes.
• Around the Chinese New Year, we love to put a tablespoon of XO Sauce in our fried rice. You can thank us later. If you like XO Sauce, be sure to try our recipe for Beef Noodles with Spicy XO Sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 516kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 260mg | Sodium: 1142mg | Potassium: 397mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2786IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 173mg | Iron: 4mg

The post Hong Kong Fried Rice [Restaurant Style + VIDEO] appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

Creamy Parmesan Risotto Cooking Therapy

One bite of this creamy saffron risotto and you are going to be hooked. Arborio rice is creamy, dreamy, cheesy and slow cooked with a little Italian love. The best preventative mental health exercise is pouring a little hot chicken broth and stirring the saffron risotto until it is creamy and delicious.

There is something very calming and Zen-like about watching the rice cook. For just a few minutes, you are living in the moment. One moment of just cooking and stirring the rice without distractions. One hand slowly stirs the risotto and a glass of wine in the other is the perfect way to relax after a stressful day.

What to serve with Saffron Risotto?

Saffron Risotto is a delicious simple carbohydrate. This easy side dish goes perfectly with our One Pan Rosemary Boneless Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes, Garlic Chicken Saltimbocca, Rustic Chicken Cacciatore  and of course, our Pressure Cooker Oxtail Stew. 

Don't you love the cozy feeling you get when you scoop a little creamy parmesan risotto on your fork with a little fall off the bone tender osso buco?  That is one perfect bite. The richness of the sauce and brightness from the citrus gremolata is a perfect pairing for a Sunday supper.  

Have you ever had risotto before? If so, you know that it can be great all by itself as a main with a delicious tossed salad with a light and bright Lemon White Balsamic Vinaigrette.

What is the Difference Between Saffron Risotto and Risotto alla Milanese?

Saffron Risotto is a classic Italian plain risotto made with chicken broth and a little pinch of saffron. Risotto alla Milanese is made with a beef broth, a pinch of saffron and beef bone marrow. Both are delicious but we really enjoy a simple creamy parmesan risotto with saffron as it goes with so many dishes and its kid friendly.

Ingredients

• Butter - The real deal. Grass fed is best.
• Onions - We used a regular yellow onion, but you can also use shallots. Use what you have on hand is always our motto.
• Garlic - But, of course! Garlic is not a traditional ingredient. However, it is a delicious addition you won't want to miss.
• Arborio Rice - is an Italian short-grained rice. This rice has a higher starch content and it makes a great rice for creamy risotto. You can also use Carnaroli, Maratelli, Baldo and Vialone Nano rice for this recipe.  
• Chicken Stock - It is best to use a low sodium chicken broth. When the risotto cooks down, the salt level intensifies. If you have homemade chicken stock, that is perfect for this creamy parmesan risotto. The addition of parmesan cheese will also be salty. Therefore, it is best to have a low sodium chicken broth so you can adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Dry White Wine - Our second-best motto is use whatever your drinking. We just happened to be drinking a delicious chardonnay so a little for the recipe and the rest for the chef works for us. After all, we are working on that our positive mental health, living in the moment, right? (smiling)
• Parmesan Cheese - The king of cheeses is sublime in our creamy parmesan risotto.  It adds that depth of flavor and savory deliciousness that you are craving. If you are vegan, you can skip this addition, but this recipe is just not the same without it. Nutritional yeast will leave this recipe grainy, so it is NOT suggested. However, you can make your own homemade vegan parmesan as well.
• Saffron - It brings that beautiful golden yellow color to the risotto and adds a little sweet floral and earthy taste to this Italian Risotto. The bright red stigmas are harvested from a flower called crocus sativus. Saffron is one of those spices that is a little on the expensive side.  However, you only need a little pinch. That will leave you plenty of extra spice to try in our delicious Slow Roasted Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb. If you really love that golden color but do not have any saffron, add a pinch of turmeric powder.

Why Do You Need to Warm the Broth for Risotto?

Heating up your chicken broth ensures that the arborio rice, chicken broth and pan are all the same temperature. The process of heating up the broth ensures that all the grains of rice cooks evenly.

No one likes some crunchy grains of rice, some perfect and some mushy. Most generally speaking, you are looking for a creamy risotto consistency with each and every bite. If you love a good creamy risotto, be sure to try our Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto and our Roasted Chestnut Pumpkin Risotto.

How to Make Saffron Bloom?

There is no need to allow extra time for your saffron to bloom in this Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Saffron recipe. Dried saffron has plenty of time to open up when steeping in the simmering chicken broth and during the cooking process. Blooming saffron is a process to extract out the flavor and color from the saffron stigmas. Blooming sometimes requires grinding, frying or steeping like tea before adding to a recipe.

How to Make Saffron Risotto

• Do NOT wash arborio rice. This strips away all the starches that make this risotto extra creamy.
• In a medium pot, add your low sodium chicken broth or homemade and heat to a simmer.
• Add a pinch of saffron to the chicken broth and the broth will turn bright yellow in a few minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add onions and salt until slightly translucent. We actually like to take them a little bit further until they just start to think about browning.
• Add the arborio rice and garlic and toast for about 1 minute in the pan with the onions. The purpose is to add a nutty flavor to the risotto.
• Deglaze the pan with the dry white wine or wine you happen to be drinking.
• Then one little ladle at a time, add a little of the saffron spiced chicken broth to the arborio rice. Making sure your heat is on a low simmer or a medium bubble.
• Do not over stir your risotto. You only want to stir it often enough to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. If you over stir, it can ruin the consistency.
• Allow the rice to cook down the liquid until you can make a path with your spatula or wooden spoon. If you can make a path with your spatula in the pan, it is time to add another scoop of warmed saffron chicken broth. (See photo above for example) Repeat this process several more times. After 15 minutes, check taste a little bit of the rice for consistency. If the risotto is still crunchy, add a few more rounds of chicken broth and stirring until it reaches your creamy consistency. The consistency should be slightly loose and creamy.
• Remove the Italian risotto from the heat source. Add in a dollop of butter and grated parmesan cheese and stir well.
• Enjoy!

How to Store Saffron Risotto?

Risotto is best enjoyed straight away. However, it can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 3 days, but it will stiffen and thicken up because of all the starches. You can reheat risotto in the microwave or on the stove top, but you will need to add just need to add a little heated chicken broth to revive it.

What to Do with Leftover Risotto?

Our favorite way to enjoy leftover risotto is to make arancini balls or risotto fritter balls. Essentially, roll up your leftover risotto in a ball, dip into a beaten egg, seasoned breadcrumbs and fry them up. Sometimes, mom used to put in a little wedge of mozzarella cheese in the center for a delicious surprise. These risotto balls are super delicious with a little marinara sauce.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

More Delicious Rice Recipes

• Vegan Chickpea Lemon Rice
• Middle Eastern Rice and Lentils
• Curried Harvest Black Forbidden Rice
• Chorizo and Shrimp Fried Rice
• Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

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Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Saffron

Creamy parmesan risotto with saffron is an easy traditionalItalian comfort food side dish that pairs perfectly with our Pressure Cooker OxtailStew. 

Course Mains, Sides

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Total Time 23 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Calories 357kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Ingredients

• 5 cups chicken broth low sodium
• 1 pinch saffron threads dried whole
• 2 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
• 1 large onion peeled and chopped
• salt to taste
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• 1½ cups arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine dry
• 2 tablespoon butter
• ¾ cup parmesan cheese grated and a little extra for garnish

Instructions

• Do NOT wash arborio rice. This strips away all the starches that make creamy parmesan risotto.
• In a medium pot, add your low sodium chicken broth (homemade is best) and heat to a simmer. Then turn down to a low heat just to keep hot.
• Add a pinch of saffron to the chicken broth. The broth will turn bright yellow in a few minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add onions and cook for about 2 minutes or until slightly translucent.
• Add the arborio rice, garlic and salt and toast for about 1 minute in the pan with the onions. The purpose or toasting the rice is to add a nutty flavor to the risotto. Do not brown the rice.
• Deglaze the pan with the dry white wine or wine you happen to be drinking.
• Then one little ladle at a time, add a little of the saffron chicken broth to the arborio rice. Making sure your heat for the risotto rice is on a low simmer (medium bubble).
• Do not over stir your risotto. You only want to stir it often enough to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. If you over stir, it can ruin the consistency.
• Allow the rice to cook down the liquid until you can make a path with your spatula or wooden spoon. If you can make a path with your spatula in the pan, it is time to add another scoop of warmed saffron chicken broth. Repeat this process several more times. After 15 minutes, check taste a little bit of the rice for consistency. If the risotto is still crunchy, add a few more rounds of chicken broth and stirring until it reaches your creamy consistency. The consistency should be slightly loose and creamy.
• Remove the Italian risotto from the heat source. Add in a dollop of butter and grated parmesan cheese and stir well. Salt and pepper to taste as desired.
• Garnish with a little extra grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Notes

Risotto is best enjoyed straight away. However, it can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 3 days, but it will stiffen and thicken up because of all the starches. You can reheat risotto in the microwave or on the stove top, but you will need to add need to add a little heated chicken broth to revive it. Do not freeze risotto as it gets hard and inedible. 

Feel free to use beef broth, vegetable broth or even seafood broth, depending on what you are serving with your Creamy Parmesan Risotto.

Heating up your chicken broth ensures that the arborio rice, chicken broth and pan are all the same temperature. Heating the broth to a simmer is super important. This process ensures that all the grains of rice cooks evenly. No one likes some crunchy grains of rice, some perfect and some mushy. Most generally speaking, you are looking for a creamy risotto consistency with each and every bite.

There is no need to allow extra time for your saffron to bloom in this Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Saffron recipe. Dried saffron has plenty of time to open up when steeping in the simmering chicken broth and during the cooking process.

If you do not have saffron, you can substitute a little dusting of dried ground turmeric spice to achieve that gorgeous yellow hue.

Nutrition

Serving: 6g | Calories: 357kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 955mg | Potassium: 271mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 216IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 171mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Creamy Parmesan Risotto With Saffron appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

12 Fabulous Reasons to Love Our Quinoa Harvest Salad

We bet you can't stop at just one bite. Imagine this powerful bite landing on your taste buds:

Roasted butternut squash quinoa salad has the crunch of the roasted pepitas, sweetness of the gala apples and dried cranberries, nuttiness of the quinoa, fresh spinach, warming spices and a pop of fresh lemon from the dressing. We bet this one bite will have you craving for more.

Feed Your Body What it is Craving

Have you ever found the perfect recipe for what your inner body craves? I am not talking about chocolate or a glass of wine, although that would be quite nice. I am referring to nourishing your inner body and soul with what it "really" needs. This delicious warm quinoa salad with roasted vegetables has lots of spices to warm your heart, strengthen your inner soul and to keep your qi flowing smoothly.

Nourish your Body with Spleen Qi Warming Foods

During the change of seasons and if your body is out of balance, it is more prone to health issues. According to NIH, they suggest strengthening your Spleen Qi by eliminating hard-to-digest foods like raw or cold foods while simultaneously eating more foods that tonify the Spleen like warming vegetables, proteins, spices and grains.

Butternut squash, quinoa, cinnamon and turmeric are all warming foods according to Eastern Medicine. In our article, Introducing the Five Energies of Foods, you can learn about cold, hot, warm, cool and neutral properties of food. 

Why your Spleen Qi Dislikes Cold Foods

According to Eastern Medicine, if you eat lots of raw or cold foods, your spleen cannot work as effectively to get that nourishment out of the food and into a product that can nourish your body. If your body is already compromised, it has to spend extra energy warming up the food that you just ate to get nourishment from it. Now, you are in a vicious cycle.

Break this cycle by eating easy to digest warm foods like soups, stews and warm grains, warm curried autumn salads, vegetables and read our Feed Your Spleen; Nourish Your Body article. Our easy Quinoa Harvest Salad is the perfect spleen qi loving salad.

Fall Quinoa Salad Ingredients

• Quinoa - We used red quinoa.  However, you can also use white, black or mixed.  If desired, you can also exchange quinoa with brown rice.
• Butternut squash - naturally sweet and delicious when roasted. Feel free to substitute with kabocha, acorn or even pumpkin.
• Apples - Gala apples were used for this recipe. The goal is to just lightly roast. You want them still slightly crisp but sweeter from the roasting process. Other firmer apples like granny smith, fuji or honey crisp also work well in our quinoa harvest salad.
• Fresh chopped spinach - we add this to the hot quinoa, butternut squash and apples and it slightly wilts for the perfect warm salad. Feel free to use other greens like kale, swiss chard or other greens of choice.
• Dried cranberries - These are so good in the recipe and bring a sweet and sour addition to this warmed harvest festive salad.
• Easy roasted pepitas (AKA pumpkin seeds) - roasting the pumpkin seeds in the oven and salting lightly add that delicious crunch to this salad. Feel free to add any toasted nuts or seeds as desired. Pecans, almonds and sunflower seeds are all delicious.
• Warming spices - cinnamon, cumin and turmeric bring a whole new dimension of flavor to this fall harvest quinoa salad.
• Lemon juice - in the dressingbrightens this recipe right up. We also suggest you place just a little on the apples after slicing and right before baking so they do not oxidize.
• EVOO - extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

How to Cook Quinoa

Did you know that quinoa is actually a seed, even though it is sometimes referred to as an ancient grain? It is naturally gluten-free. There are many different types of quinoa such as white, red and black. We choose to use red quinoa for our quinoa harvest salad as that is what was on sale. (smiling)

One very important thing to note is that quinoa has a natural coating of saponin. This a chemical that helps repel microbes while the seed of quinoa is in its growing stage and it must be washed off BEFORE cooking or it can cause gastrointestinal distress.

Step 1 - wash the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer really well until it runs clear. We use agitation and rub the seeds between our fingers under the water for at least 5 minutes. Quinoa seeds are really small. We use a rice strainer for this, and it works quite well. (There is nothing more frustrating than using a regular strainer and then having to manually pluck out the grains of quinoa out with a knife.) Been there- Done That!

Step 2 - read your package directions as these are golden rule. We used Simple Truth Organic Red Quinoa and cooked according to the package directions. The water to grain ratio is 2 cups water to 1 cup dried quinoa.

Step 3 - Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.  This quinoa recipe yielded 3 cups of cooked quinoa. When the quinoa is cooked perfectly, it will be tender, and you can see these tiny spirals separating and curling around the quinoa seeds.

How to Chop a Butternut Squash Safely?

This butternut squash and apple salad only uses one half of a butternut squash. If you are looking for other delicious recipes to use the other half, be sure to try our Roasted Butternut and Carrot Ginger Soup, Butternut Squash Vegetarian Lasagna and Spicy Rosemary Butternut Squash.

Guess what? It is best to keep all 10 fingers!  If the thought of chopping up a butternut squash causes anxiety, you can buy pre-cut butternut squash at the market or use frozen chopped butternut squash for this recipe instead.

How to Make Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

What to Serve with Quinoa Salad?

This is a fantastic Thanksgiving side dish. Be sure to try with our Roasted Turmeric Spiced Turkey Breast.

We always like something naturally sweet with our pork. How about you? Be sure to try our quinoa salad along with our Rosemary Herbed Pork Chops with Shallot Wine Sauce.

We enjoy our Quinoa Harvest Salad for easy make ahead lunches and as a healthy alternative breakfast option too.

More Delicious Warm Salad Recipes

Best Vegan Warm Swiss Chard Lentil Salad

Sautéed Greens and Breakfast Salad

Thai Grilled Watermelon Salad

Authentic Thai Fish Salad

Stir Fried Romaine Lettuce

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

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Quinoa Harvest Salad

Quinoa Harvest Salad with roasted butternut squash and apples tossed in red quinoa, spinach, dried cranberries, easy roasted pepitas with a spiced warming autumn dressing.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 188kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked quinoa cooked per instructions (can use red, white, black or mixed)
• 4 tablespoon olive oil (divided - 2 tablespoons for roasting butternut squash and apples and 2 tablespoons for making the dressing)
• 1.5 cups butternut squash chopped into cubes (½ butternut squash)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric dried ground (divided - ½ teaspoon for roasting butternut squash and apples and ½ teaspoon for making the dressing)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon dried ground (divided - ½ teaspoon for roasting butternut squash and apples and ½ teaspoon for making the dressing)
• 1 teaspoon cumin dried ground (divided - ½ teaspoon for roasting butternut squash and apples and ½ teaspoon for making the dressing)
• 2 large apples chopped (gala, fuji, granny smith or any firm apple works well)
• 1.5 cups spinach chopped
• ⅓ cup dried cranberries
• ⅓ cup easy roasted pepitas
• 3 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C).
• Peel and chop butternut squash and apples. Keep butternut and apples separate as you will add these items separately at different times in the baking process. Drizzle a little of the lemon juice on the apples to prevent oxidations.
• Toss butternut squash with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ½teaspoon of turmeric, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Place prepared butternut squash on a lined baking sheet in a single layer. Place in oven. Set timer for 15 minutes.
• Prepare 1 cup of quinoa per package instructions. Make sure you wash your quinoa super well and until the water runs clear BEFORE cooking.Very important step! Set aside and keep warm. Will yield approximately 3 cups of cooked quinoa. If you have already cooked quinoa, reheat in the microwave before adding to the salad.
• Next, add the chopped apples in with the butternut squash. Toss and layer flat and continue baking for about 5 - 8 minutes more or until the butternut squash is fork tender. Remove from oven.
• In the meantime, make your spiced autumn salad dressing. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of turmeric, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
• Prepare the easy roasted pepitas. You can do this in the oven or take 2 minutes and toast them in a pan on the stove top. Salt to taste. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add the cooked warm quinoa, roasted warm butternut squash and apples, chopped spinach, dried cranberries and prepared spiced autumn salad dressing and toss. If serving immediately, toss in the roasted pepitas. If making in advance, hold the easy roasted pepitas until serving so they stay nice and crunchy.
• Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Storage

• Quinoa Harvest Salad can be made in advance and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months.

How to Chop and Cube a Butternut Squash Safely

• Using your sharpest knife, cut your butternut squash in half, lengthwise. We used a clever. Did you know that a dull knife is twice is likely to cause injury than a sharp knife? Only use your hands-on top of the knife. Keep your hands off the actual squash. Sometimes, it is helpful to put the edge of the knife into the squash. Then, bang the squash down on to the cutting board to cut all the way through.
• Use a spoon and scoop and discard the seeds.
• We use a peeler to peel the butternut squash.
• Place the flat cut side of the butternut squash on the board. Cut the squash into slices and then into long slices. Finally, cut into cubes. Please check out our video in the recipe card for a demonstration.
• If the thought of chopping up a fresh butternut squash is too much for you, you can purchase butternut squash already pre-chopped in the fresh section of your grocery or use frozen butternut cubes for this recipe.

How to Cook Quinoa

One very important thing to note is that quinoa has a natural coating of saponin. This a chemical that helps repel microbes while the seed of quinoa is in its growing stage and it must be washed off BEFORE cooking or it can cause gastrointestinal distress.

Step 1 – wash the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer really well until it runs clear. We use agitation and rub the seeds between our fingers under the water for at least 5 minutes. Quinoa seeds are really small. We use a rice strainer for this, and it works quite well. (There is nothing more frustrating than using a regular strainer and then having to manually pluck out the grains of quinoa out with a knife.) Been there- Done That!

Step 2 – read your package directions as these are golden rule. We used Simple Truth Organic Red Quinoa and cooked according to the package directions. The water to grain ratio is 2 cups water to 1 cup dried quinoa.

Step 3 – Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.  This quinoa recipe yielded 3 cups of cooked quinoa. When the quinoa is cooked perfectly, it will be tender, and you can see these tiny spirals separating and curling around the quinoa seeds.

Recipe Exchanges and Substitutions

If you do not like quinoa, this recipe is also delicious with brown rice.

We used easy roasted pepitas (AKA pumpkin seeds) for this fall harvest quinoa salad. However, feel free to use pecans, almonds or sunflower seeds.

Butternut squash is delicious but can exchange with acorn squash, kabocha squash or even pumpkin.

If you do not have dried cranberries, this recipe is also delicious with raisins.

Spinach can be replaced with kale or other greens of choice.

We used gala apples for this recipe but can use any firm apple such as fuji, granny smith or apple of choice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 287mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2678IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Quinoa Harvest Salad appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

Can You Guess What the SECRET Dressing Ingredient Is?

We bet if you look in your spice cabinet right now, you have it. This special ingredient makes regular Thanksgiving dressing go from ho hum boring to Oh my goodness, please give me seconds or maybe thirds. Are you ready?

Drum roll please…

Fresh Ground Black Pepper and LOTS of it!

When I say a lot of freshly ground pepper, I mean a really BIG punch! This old fashion meat stuffing (dressing) has 3 full teaspoons of pepper in it. You heard me right "3 teaspoons of black pepper".

Of course, you don't have to put the full 3 teaspoons of pepper in it if you don't want to. However, then is would not be Grandpa's Secret Stuffing, it would be just plain old boring run of the mill ground beef dressing. What sets this stuffing apart from many others is that it comes with a big pack of flavor from the aromatics and a big punch from the freshly ground pepper.

10 Reasons to Love Our French Canadian Meat Dressing Recipe

1. This meat stuffing gets a little crispy on the outside and is tender and delicious on the inside, especially when prepared in muffin tins. (AKA MEAT MUFFINS - Perfect individual servings for any holiday dinner gathering)
2. Recipe can be prepared in advance of guest's arrival or even baked in advance and then reheated. It keeps it's texture and flavor.
3. Can be served as stuffing inside a turkey or outside as a side of dressing.
4. Dressing can be baked in a single baking dish for easy transport or in muffin tins to allow for more crispy bits on the ends. The little browned crispy bits are our favorite part of this simple oven baked dressing.
5. The BEST darn dressing ever! Tried and true family recipe that has been passed on from generation to generation.
6. Hearty enough to be served as a main dish with a side salad and vegetable.
7. Gluten free, dairy free and egg free. However, you can use plain regular bread if no issues with gluten.
8. Easy on the wallet (budget friendly) with just a handful of easy to find ingredients.
9. Super flavorful with a big punch of freshly ground pepper to warm you up.
10. Perfect side dish along with our Spicy Rosemary Butternut Squash, Balsamic Roasted Fennel and Carrots and our Autumn Kale Salad for Thanksgiving dinner or any autumn meal.

Why Do We Call This Grandpa's Secret Stuffing?

We call it "Grandpa's" stuffing as all the grandkids, just love this recipe - and grandpa was the only one who made this each holiday. My father (a descendant of immigrants from Quebec) had never shared this recipe and it had never been written down until 2011 [when we first posted this recipe]. However, over a cup of coffee and some persuasion he started to share his secret stuffing recipe with me. This French-Canadian meat dressing recipe was passed on to him by watching his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. If you love traditional French-Canadian recipes, be sure to try Grandma's Chicken and Sliders.

We are certain grandpa (dad) is smiling down at us from heaven.  He would be proud to share a little of his French-Canadian family tradition on to the world. His rich family history and stories will always be dear to our hearts.

Grandpa's stuffing has been a celebrated family tradition in our family for many years. Thanksgiving would simply not be Thanksgiving, unless there was Grandpa's ground beef Thanksgiving stuffing was on the dinner table.

What's the Difference Between Turkey Dressing and Stuffing?

According to Food and Wine, the main difference is in the method that they are cooked.

Stuffing is usually made with bread and assortment of ingredients and aromatics that is actually stuffed into the cavity of the turkey and then baked inside the turkey.

Dressing is a side dish. It is also made with bread and other ingredients that is baked in a separate dish outside the turkey or other poultry cavity.

The best part of this French-Canadian meat dressing recipe is that it can be made as a traditional old fashion meat stuffing for inside the bird or as a side dish as a dressing. This dressing is also fantastic as a side dish for our Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken or stuffed inside a duck or pheasant.

Don't Forget the Giblets!

Where are all of our French-Canadian friends? You already know that this ground beef Thanksgiving dressing or stuffing usually is made with the chopped up fried turkey giblets along with the ground beef. Turkey giblets are those parts is parts bag that is usually found inside the cavity of the bird when you get it from the store. The giblet package usually has the heart, liver, gizzard and neck of the bird. Waste not want not is the motto of our ancestors.

Will you be making this dressing recipe for children? If so, hold the giblets. As the years went by and more and more grandchildren filled grandpa's home, he left out these little ingredients to make the kids happy.

Recipe Exchanges and Substitutions

1. We like to use lean beef with 90% to 92% lean beef and 8% to 10% fat as we do not like all that extra fat. In addition, if it is lean, you can save a step of draining the beef after it is cooked. A little fat left in is a good thing as it makes it moist and gives it the crispy edges that everyone craves.
2. Feel free to use regular bread instead of gluten-free, if no gluten intolerances. It's a great way to use up that day-old bread.

Meat Stuffing Ingredients

• Ground beef (90-92%. Lean and 8-10% fat). You may also choose to cook up the turkey giblets. They are quite good. However, if you have small children, you may want to skip the giblets.
• Aromatics - celery, onion and garlic. Well, of course garlic!!!
• Freshly ground black pepper and lots of it! If you are making this for small children, you may want to scale back a little on the black pepper, so it is not too spicy for them. Season along the way. Be sure to check out our video below and watch us season throughout the cooking process.
• Olive oil
• Chicken broth
• Bread- gluten free or regular. We used white but use whatever you have on hand.

How to Make Homemade Turkey Dressing?

Here is an overview:

(See recipe card below for full instructions)

Sauté the aromatics until translucent and then add the ground beef and cook until brown. Season with salt and ground pepper. Lots of pepper!

Soak bread in chicken broth and then squeeze out excess and break into pieces. Mix the cooked meat mixture and bread mixture and place in a greased casserole pan or muffin tins. We love using the muffin tins as it gives you more crispy edges to our French Canadian Meat Dressing Recipe.

Drizzle with a little olive oil to help with the browning and bake between 40 - 50 minutes depending on the mode of cooking process.

If you want to make stuffing do all the steps above, except instead of placing the stuffing in a separate dish to bake, place in the cavity of the turkey or bird of choice and bake. The baking time for a stuffed bird, will depend on weight of the turkey. 

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

More Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas

Roasted Turmeric Spiced Turkey

Spicy Rosemary Butternut Squash

Autumn Kale Salad

Roasted Butternut and Carrot Ginger Soup

Grandma's Apple Pie

Gluten-Free Herbs de Provence

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French Canadian Meat Dressing Recipe

French Canadian Meat Dressing Recipe is Grandpa’s SECRET Thanksgiving turkey stuffing made with ground beef, gluten-free bread, aromatics, lots of fresh ground pepper.

Course Sides

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 12

Calories 227kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

• Muffin Tin or Casserole Dish

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
  (reserve 1 tablespoon for drizzling on top before baking)
• 1 onion chopped
  
• 3 stalks celery
  chopped
• 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
  
• 1.5 pounds ground beef
  we like to use 90 - 92% lean and 8-10% fat
• 3 teaspoon pepper
  
• 2 cups chicken broth
  gluten free
• 10 slices bread
  gluten free (or regular bread if no gluten allergies)
• salt to taste

Garnishes

• parsley to garnish (optional)
• carrot julienned slices to garnish (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 176 degrees Celsius)
• Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil in sauce pan and add chopped onions, celery and garlic until slightly translucent- add a little salt and pepper. (Reserve the other 1 tablespoon of olive oil right before baking)
• Add ground beef and add some more salt and pepper and cook until beef is browned. Take off burner and set aside to cool.
• In the meantime in a separate bowl place about 2 cups of chicken broth. Place the slices of bread into the chicken broth and squeeze water out. Place squeezed out bread into a clean bowl and pull apart bread into small pieces.
• Add cooled ground beef mixture to bread.  Salt and add the rest of the pepper and mix.
• Grease an oven proof muffin tin or casserole dish and place stuffing mixture inside. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top. Bake UNCOVERED in the oven!

  If you like crispy edges, place your dressing in a greased muffin pan and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and slightly crispy.

  If you prefer to bake your dressing in a casserole dish, bake in the oven for about 50 - 60 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown.

  You can also stuff a turkey (or other poultry of choice) with our prepared French Canadian Meat Dressing Recipe. Just prepare your poultry and stuff the dressing in the inner cavity. Bake according to the required time needed for the weight of the turkey, goose, duck, chicken or pheasant.
• If desired, garnish with parsley and little julienned carrot slices before serving.
• Serve hot and bring on the holiday cheer!

Video

Notes

Do not cover the dressing while it is baking, or it will prevent the dressing from getting the little crispy browned edges that we all love.

Dressing can be made 24 hours in advance and then baked just before your guests arrive. Leftovers can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months.

We really love those crispy edges to the dressing so we like using cupcake or muffin tins to bake the dressing. In addition, these little MEAT MUFFINS, are super cute to serve as a side dish for any holiday or fall or winter gathering. 

If desired, feel free to chop up the turkey giblets and fry up with the ground beef. For all of our French-Canadian friends out there, you know this ground beef Thanksgiving dressing or stuffing usually is made with the chopped up fried turkey giblets along with the ground beef. Turkey giblets are those parts is parts bag that is usually found inside the cavity of the bird when you get it from the store. The giblet package usually has the heart, liver, gizzard and neck of the bird. Waste not want not is the motto of our ancestors. However, if you have kids like we do, we skipped adding these to the dressing recipe. 

Recipe Exchanges and Substitutions

• We like to use lean beef with 90% to 92% lean beef and 8% to 10% fat as we do not like all that extra fat. In addition, if it is lean, you can save a step of draining the beef after it is cooked. A little fat left in is a good thing as it makes it moist and gives it the crispy edges that everyone craves.
• Feel free to use regular bread instead of gluten-free, if no gluten intolerances. It’s a great way to use up that day-old bread.
• This dressing recipe is very black pepper forward. Reduce amount as needed for your spice and heat level. 
• If you want to make this recipe vegan, exchange the ground beef with chopped mushrooms and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Chanterelle mushrooms are so delicious. 

Do you have to cook the stuffing before putting into the turkey?

The ground beef, giblets, vegetables and aromatics should all be fully cooked before stuffing the cavity of the turkey or other poultry. This is to prevent any illness. A stuffed turkey takes longer to cook than an unstuffed turkey. A stuffed turkey takes too much time to cook the internal stuffing to the temperature required for safe consumption. If you baked your turkey long enough to cook the stuffing to the proper safe temperature if would be dry.  No one likes dry turkey. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 311mg | Potassium: 277mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg

The post French Canadian Meat Dressing Recipe appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

Comfort food makes even our worst days more tolerable. Grandma’s Chicken and Sliders are warming, filling and makes the house smell fantastic.  Usually, comfort food reminds you of some place in your life that was a happy place to be. A place, feeling or sensation that is nostalgic or has some sedimental appeal.  In addition, comfort food gives us a happy sanctuary where all negative things are laid to rest and only good and positive things come your way.

5 Delicious Reasons to Make Grandma's Chicken and Sliders

Best Comfort Food EVER

Hearty and filling

Warm you right up

Fun to make with the kids

Uses simple pantry ingredients

French Canadian Recipe

Did you know that chicken and sliders, also known as chicken and dumplings, is a French- Canadian dish that originated in the great depression?  The delightful comfort dish has very few ingredients but yet meets all the requirements for mood elevation. Delicious juicy roasted chicken, hearty sliders (noodles) and a flavorful broth gravy make for one fantastic comfort food dish.

What is the difference between a slider and a dumpling?

A slider or dumpling is or can be a fat pillowy noodle usually made with flour and the chicken broth. Some individuals shape them into homemade cut noodles and others throw them in the soup base as balls. There are many different variations to this recipe. We usually think of sliders as the thick homemade cut noodles.  Whereas, dumplings as more of the balls or dropped ball biscuits.

What Ingredients are Used to Make Sliders?

Both Sliders and Dumplings are terms that are sometimes used interchangeable depending on where you are from. However, there are some differences between techniques. Some recipes have the addition of eggs, oil or even a bisquick type mix. Our Grandma’s Chicken and Sliders recipe is made with flour, eggs and the cooled chicken broth.

Boiling vs Roasting your Chicken

Have you ever made chicken and sliders? If you have, do you boil your whole chicken or roast it separately? There are 2 schools of thought on this.

1. Boiling a whole chicken is an easy one pot solution. However, at the end of the day you still need to remove all the bones and who likes boiled meat anyways. You can even do this in the slow cooker or even in a pressure cooker.
2. Preparing a Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken gives you both the delicious starter bone broth and the crispy chicken skin we all crave. This option provides you with the cook once and eat twice option. We use this method.

How to make Slider Broth

1) Save the delicious pan drippings from your Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken.

2) Make your chicken soup base

How to Make Slider Noodles

1) Mix with your flour an egg and your cooled chicken broth. If your dough is to too dry, add a little more chicken broth. On the other hand, if your dough is too wet add a little more flour. The consistency of bread you are looking for is a dough that just starts to come together and is pliable. In addition, your dough should not be dry and nor shall it be too sticky but a bread dough consistency.

2) Do not overwork the dough as that makes it tough. You want your flour, egg and chicken broth to gather gently. Knead it just a couple of times to pull it together and set it aside. Form dough into a ball.

3) Cut the dough ball into 4 sections

4) Roll out each section of slider dough on a floured surface about ⅛ inch thick. Remember to also flour the rolling pin so you don’t have any sticking issues.

5) Next, take a butter knife and cut slider noodles into long slices. Cut each long slice into 1.5 -inch slices.

6) Now, sprinkle loads of flour over the noodles, so they do not stick. Gently toss your noodles in the flour. Repeat this process with the remaining dough.

7) Bring your chicken soup to a boil.

8) Add your cut sliders into the chicken soup base. Do NOT shake off the excess flour off your slider noodles. This is VERY IMPORTANT. You need that extra flour to thicken your chicken soup base. It acts like a roux. This guide to thickening is the secret to a very comforting broth for Grandma's Chicken and Sliders.

9) Boil the noodles until they are soft and pillowy. They should have a slight tooth bite but be light and pillowy. The time needed to get to this stage depends on how large and thick you cut your noodles. Our noodles took between 15-20 minutes to get to this stage.

How Long to Cook Slider Noodles

The sliders will float up to the top of the pot when they are getting close to be done. Depending on how flat or fat your noodles are, they take between 15-20 minutes to cook. We found that you need this extra time up to almost 25-30 minutes to let all the flavors mingle, the broth to thicken and to get rid of the flour taste. Unlike a traditional noodle, sliders are heartier and stay aldente as long as you have enough broth in the pot. We hope you enjoy this recipe for Grandma's Chicken and Sliders as much as our family does.

Comfort Food Rocks

If you liked this recipe, you will love these other comfort food recipes from Healthy World Cuisine…

Instant Pot Ham and Lentil Stew

Golden Spiced Noodle Soup

Simple Spicy Thai Hot Pot

Instant Pot Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

Crazy Easy Italian Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Tuscan Slow Cooked Braised Beef in Wine Sauce

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Grandma's Chicken and Sliders

Grandma’s Chicken and Sliders is a heartwarming rich and delicious recipe with homemade chicken broth, hearty dumplings and roasted chicken.

Course Mains

Cuisine French

Prep Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours

Servings 10

Calories 300kcal

Author HWC Magazine

Ingredients

Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken

• 1 Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken recipe

Chicken Broth:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 4 stalks celery
  chopped
• 2 onions
  small chopped
• 1 carrot
  chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
  chopped
• 2 cups Pan drippings/juice from roasted chicken
  approximately
• 6 cups chicken stock
  (homemade, boxed, canned, gluten-free or bouillon, etc.)
• 4 bay leaves
  
• ½ teaspoon paprika
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Sliders:

• 4 cups 4 cups all-purpose regular flour
  (may also use gluten free flour blend if needed) and extra flour on the side for rolling and to prevent sticking
• 1 egg
  beaten
• 1 to 1.5 cups homemade chicken broth from the drippings of your Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken cooled

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

ROASTING THE CHICKEN

• Follow our Recipe for Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken. https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/savory-herbed-roasted-whole-chicken/
• Remove your Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken from the pan and tent with Aluminum foil to keep warm. (Reserve all those delectable juices in the pan from the roasted chicken for the chicken broth gravy for the sliders)

CHICKEN BROTH GRAVY FOR SLIDERS

• In a large pot place olive oil, chopped celery, onions, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until slightly translucent and soft. (If you wanted to you could have slow cooked your vegetables with the roasted chicken in the oven and this is nice as well)
• Add reserved juice from your Savory Herb Whole Roasted Chicken, additional chicken broth, bay leaves, paprika and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Then reduce and simmer for ½ hour.
• Strain and remove all vegetables and bay leaves from broth and bring broth back up to a boil
• Add sliders to broth (recipe below)

SLIDERS (HOMEMADE NOODLES)

• While your chicken soup broth is cooking, make your sliders.
• Beat one egg in a large bowl. Add 4 cups all-purpose flour to bowl and gently stir in the egg.
• Next, add approximately 1- 1.5 cups or more of cooled chicken broth to flour while stirring. Add enough broth so that the flour mixture just starts to form a nice dough ball. You dough should just pull together. If your dough is too wet, add a little more flour. On the other hand, if your dough is too dry, add a little cooled chicken soup broth.
• Liberally flour a clean surface and lightly knead dough just a couple of times to form into a ball. Do NOT over knead your dough as this can make your noodles tough.
• Flatten bread lightly with hands and add more flour on top of dough and on to your rolling pin. Roll to about 1.8th of inch flat or as flat as you can get it as they puff up quite a bit when cooked.
• Cut dough into long slices and then cut each slice into about 1.5 inches long.
• Coat the fresh homemade noodles with lots of flour and do not shake off excess. (First this prevents the noodles from sticking together. In addition, it helps thicken the broth to a nice and thick consistency like a gravy for your sliders. Yum!)
• Grandma used to make a few little small dough balls. She said you were the lucky one if you got one in your bowl. (Totally optional, but fun for the kids)

Cook your Slider Noodles

• Drop the homemade sliders (noodles) into the boiling chicken broth a handful at a time. Be sure to leave on the extra flour to help thicken the chicken broth.
• The broth will start to thicken, and the noodles will float up to the top when they are cooked (about 15-20 minutes). It really depends on how thick your noodles are. Sliders do take longer to cook compared to regular noodles.
• Boil slider noodles until they are soft and pillowy. They should have a slight tooth bite but be light and pillowy. The time needed to get to this stage depends on how large and thick you cut your noodles. Our noodles took between 15 minutes to get to this stage. The sliders will float up to the top of the pot when they are getting close to be done.
• We found that you need this extra time up to almost 25-30 minutes to let all the flavors mingle, the broth to thicken and to get rid of the flour taste. Unlike a traditional noodle, sliders are heartier and stay aldente as long as you have enough broth in the pot.
• Now, your broth should be thick almost like a soup gravy and your sliders are pillowy soft but still have a little tooth bite feel. Salt and pepper and season to taste. If your broth is too thin, mix a little flour and water slurry and add to the chicken broth and bring up to a boil.
• Allow to continue to boil for several minutes to remove the flour taste and for the flavors to mingle. On the other hand, if your soup broth is too thick and your noodles do not have enough liquid to boil, you will need to add more chicken broth to your pot. Then, re-season as needed.

Putting it all together

• Serve sliders alongside of sliced Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken and mashed potatoes for the full comfort food experience.
• We hope you enjoy Grandma's Chicken and Sliders the worlds perfect comfort food! (Tonight, a rare event. We actually have leftovers and looking forward to eating it tomorrow as it is even better the next day)

Notes

Be sure to scroll above the recipe to check out the step by step photos for the cooking process.

If you want to make this recipe gluten free, just substitute gluten-free flour blend for the regular flour. Also make sure that any chicken broth you use is also gluten free. Please note however, depending on the type of gluten free flour used the cooking time for your sliders will differ. You will need to start checking them at 5 minutes and every so often. Best to use a mixed gluten-free flour blend. (Straight almond flour, coconut flour, rice flour, etc. do not have the best results).

Grandma's Chicken and Sliders are best if eaten within 3 days. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. To reheat, just add sliders and gravy to a pot and heat on stovetop or in microwave. If sliders are too thick, you can add a little water or chicken broth and re-season as desired. We have not frozen the sliders before as we have never had that much left over.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 275mg | Potassium: 388mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1171IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 3mg

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