Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Coconut curry cashew rice cakes

Day 13. This morning I got a fierce craving for bacon. There is a small amount of thick cut bacon in my refrigerator. It was wierd; I could smell it without even cooking it. I remained strong though! I opted for a toasted bagel and a bowl of grits with butter, pepper, sea salt and parmesan cheese:

Yesterday morning before work, I cooked up some Coconut Curry Cashew Rice Cakes. I think I got the recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers. In any case, I took the original recipe and added curry paste and toasted cashews. Once the rice finished cooking on the stove and the cashews and scallions were folded in, I transfered the rice mix in to a 9x12 glass baking dish, pressed down on it with saran wrap and let it chill all day in the refrigerator. When I got home, I cut strips of the rice and sauted them in a little bit of olive oil and butter until they were toasty brown on each side. I served them with shredded romaine, cucumbers and tomatoes mixed with Tahini and lemon juice:

Here's the magical thing about this rice dish: it stays well in the refrigerator for a few days and it continues to soak up the sweet flavors of coconut and curry. I used more of the rice cakes today in my Bento Box with pan fried vegatable dumplings, avocado, mango and papaya:


Coconut Curry Cashew Rice Cakes
1 1/2 cups of basmati rice, rinsed well
2 cups water
1 cup coconut milk (when you open the can of coconut milk, poke your knife through the coconut "fat" and pour. It should yield about one cup of coconut milk)
1 heaping tablespoon of curry paste (or adjust to taste)
1 tablespoon of organic coconut oil (if you don't have this, simply scoop up one tablespoon of the coconut "fat" from the can)
a pinch of saffron threads
1/2 cup of chopped cashews
4 scallions, diced

Bring water to a boil and add rice, coconut milk, curry, and coconut oil. Put a lid on the pot and turn to low. Rice should be fully cooked in about 20 minutes. In the meantime, heat a little bit of olive oil on medium heat in a pan and saute the cashews and scallions. Fold the cashews and scallions in to the rice. Transfer the rice to an ungreased 9x12 glass baking dish. Take a piece of saran wrap and press the rice mix down firmly. Chill in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat the rice cakes, cut the rice in to squares, strips or desired shapes. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook until each side is golden brown.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing your recipes I hope you don't mind but I am going to try them out. this one though I plan on subbing the coconut as I am allergic!


    hugs and peace

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