Saturday 18 June 2011

Tahini lime rice with some multicultural day thoughts

I have such good intentions to return to old recipes and yet the ingredients drive me down the road less travelled.  This week I had lots of leftover rice that I intended to make into a rice gratin, despite having no eggs to spare.  (Sylvia is having a boiled egg every morning so I have to account for these at the moment.)  Time was also tight.  I thought maybe I wouldn't bake it and then I remembered Vegan Yum Yum's tahini sauce which would use a lime from our tree.  Dinner looked very different from what I had planned.

Eating dinner was also very different to how I had planned it.  I knew it was taking too long to eat before Sylvia went to bed but I had thought we might get her down to sleep and eat.  However it was just one of those nights.  She refused to sleep no matter what we did.  Finally I thought she was settled.  We sat down to eat on the couch in front of the telly and after a few mouthfuls she started crying again.  Not the most relaxing of meals!  At least it was very tasty.

I wish Sylvia would eat this sort of food.  We had a multicultural day at her child care this week.  It was hard to know what to make to represent her culture.  I eliminated sweet food (not ANZAC biscuits, shortbread, hedgehog and grubs), nuts (there went sausage rolls, haggis and nut roast), anything that was best fresh (so no pumpkin scones or damper), or anything that was difficult to transport and tricky for kids to eat (no pumpkin soup either).  Plus Sylvia likes her food plain.  So what did I take?  Bread and cheese.  Sylvia and I made potato bread to represent her Irish roots and we took cheese so she would have some protein with her lunch.  I felt like we took the most boring food to child care.  But you and I know that the way we eat at home is quite different.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Long Weekend eats: crumble and cake
This time two years ago: Hellenic Republic – land of the lotus eaters
This time three years ago: Pumpkin in a Smoothie!
This time four years ago: LOT #6 Leftover Beetroot Koftas in Carrot Sauce

Tahini lime rice with kale and cashews
serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek, chopped
150g (half a bunch) tuscan kale, chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 zucchini, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
3-4 cups cooked rice (I used basmati)
handful of baby spinach and baby kale, roughly chopped
2-3 handfuls of roasted unsalted cashews, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped

Tahini lime sauce:
adapted from Vegan Yum Yum   

1/4 cup stock
2 dessertspoons of tahini
juice of 1 large lime
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp honey (or other sweetener)

Heat oil in a large frypan and slowly fry the leek and kale for about 20-30 minutes.  (Vegan Yum Yum used kale and cut the stalk out of hers but I kept mine in the dish which meant it took a bit longer to cook.)  Add garlic, thyme and zucchini.  Cook another 5-10 minutes until the zucchini is soft. 

While the vegetables are cooking, make the tahini lime sauce by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl.  I also had rice that had been in the fridge and ran it under boiling water before adding to the frypan.

Add rice, tahini lime sauce, baby spinach, baby kale and cashews.  Stir together to mix well and cook a few minutes.  (If you have to settle a crying baby you can let it rest until you are ready to eat.)  Serve in bowls topped with chopped tomato.  Will keep well overnight in the fridge.

On the stereo:
The music from the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films: Peer Raben

12 comments:

  1. That looks like a delicious meal to me--and even without the crying toddler, I am often waylaid while preparing dinner, so it's good to know that it will keep warmed! Always looking for new ways with kale, and this sounds like a good one. :)

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  2. This certainly isn't a boring dish! It looks great, and worthy of the deviation from your plans (although I'm sorry you didn't get to relax whilst eating it). And bread and cheese sounds like an entirely appropriate dish to take to child care...goodness knows what they expect parents to take, but non-fussy food sounds perfect to me.

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  3. Thank you Johanna, for all your lovely comments on my blog recently! :) This recipe looks incredibly delicious! I made a tahini dressing a few weeks ago for the first time and liked it a lot! And this rice with kale looks wonderful, I want to try this myself! :) (I actually have quite the list of recipes from your blog I want to try already.)

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  4. This is *exactly* the kind of quick, simple, and nourishing meal I have to start making to stop myself from living on sweet snacks and raw vegetables! Thank, Johanna :)

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  5. That sounds delicious-sorry to hear that Sylvia was so unsettled! :(

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  6. You seem to be the Queen of Kale!

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  7. Thanks Ricki - the kale needs the sweet and salty flavours to balance its bitterness - highly recommend this, esp as we all have reasons that dinner has to wait sometimes

    Thanks Kari - I think I probably have higher expectations of what food I take to child care than the centre does - they were delighted with the bread and that Sylvia helped to make it (though she was tried to knead her mashed potato tonight which made me wonder about the wisdom of trying to show her how to knead)

    Thanks Kath - so many recipes and so little time - hope you get to make a few of mine - tahini in sauce is not always something I love but it was subtle enough here to blend with the flavours rather than dominate as I feared it might when I first mixed it up

    Thanks Hannah - it didn't seem a quick meal but probably wouldn't take so long without the Sylvia factor - she actually ate a bit of rice though told me she didn't like kale

    Thanks Lorraine - don't know what is up with that baby but need good food while she is not sleeping well

    Thanks White Plates - very kind

    Thanks Lisa - indeed!

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  8. This looks great, Johanna. I was thinking quinoa or bulgur could work well here instead of rice, but I have never tried to pan-fry those grains.

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  9. I'll pick one of your recipes for a Cooking with Friends post for sure. :)

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  10. I'm always so impressed by the different things you make Johanna - it must be really difficult to deal with a small toddler and make dinner too, I'm not sure I'd manage it!

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  11. That rice sounds so flavourful and now that I'm part of a CSA I always have kale that needs using!

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