Having a great rice dish in your back pocket is sooooo important for busy week-nights. This Green Rice is so much more elegant and interesting than your basic rice and veggies, mostly because of the delicious pesto sauce. You have complete control over how much you want to use, but even in small amounts it will enhance a simple rice or pasta.
Plus this dish comes together so quickly-cooking the rice is the step that takes the most time! You can prepare the pesto while the rice is cooking and then quickly sauté the greens before adding the cooked rice and pesto to the pan.
The simple pesto is made from “power greens”-kale and herbs like basil. But feel free to use what ever greens you have on hand. It would be equally good with arugula, chopped collard greens, cilantro, mustard greens, etc…
Also, you will definitely have leftover pesto, so here are some other ideas for other ways to use it:
- toss some with a simple vegetable pasta for a quick dinner
- spread some onto a veggie sandwich, with avocado, sprouts, lettuce, and tomato
- drizzle some onto a bean or potato salad
- add it to a green salad with a little extra lemon
- drizzle some onto some lightly roasted vegetables, like broccoli or asparagus for a delicious side dish
- spoon a little into a Provençal style vegetable soup
Green Rice
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
An elegant, healthy and flavorful rice dish that will quickly become a staple of your dinner time routine.
Author: Rachel Carr
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients
Kale Pesto
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ cup olive oil
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 cups packed kale leaves
- 2 cups basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Green Rice
- ½ cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped kale
- 1 cup chopped chard
- ¼ cup kale pesto or quantity to taste (see recipe above)
- ¼ cup basil leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place all the kale pesto ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
- For the green rice, place the rice, salt and water in a sauce pan. Bring to boil and then turn down the heat to extra low and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook for 10 minutes covered and until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and allow to sit covered with the lid on.
- In a large sauté pan, place the olive oil and chopped onion over medium heat. Add the chopped kale and chard and cook for about 1 minute or until just wilted. Add the cooked rice and stir well. Add the pesto and stir well. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Add the basil and divide between 2 plates. Drizzle with a little more of the pesto if desired.
- Serve immediately.
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