Herb and Garlic Green Rice Bowl
When I say green rice bowl, I don’t mean a rice bowl with green toppings. I mean the rice becomes green!
I made this meal for lunch today while I listened to one of my favourite podcasts, the “Today is the Day” podcast by Meghan Telpner and Josh Gitalis. A culinary nutritionist and functional nutritionist, respectively, these two always have really great information to share. I love their podcast because it’s smart and informative, but also relaxed and easy to listen to.
Today I listened to them talk about blood sugar. It’s important to keep your blood sugar balanced throughout the day, to manage things like energy, sleep, mood, and many other things. While I recommend listening to them (oh and this isn’t sponsored, I just really like their podcast), I wanted to share this recipe because I started it with one plan in mind, and then made some adjustments to ensure it was blood sugar balancing.
While the base is rice, it is a whole grain brown rice with fibre which is important for blood sugar balance. I’ve added tons of greens which are loaded with health benefits, and then I topped it with healthy fats to provide slow burning energy throughout the day. I felt great after eating this and you will too! The rice itself will serve two, but then adjust the toppings for however many you’re serving, whether it is one or two. For more than two servings, double the rice recipe.
Ingredients for the rice:
3/4 cup of brown rice
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 tsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of turmeric
A hearty pinch of salt
1/2 a cup of chopped spinach
1/2 cup of frozen peas
2-3 tbsps each of finely chopped fresh dill and fresh parsley
1 clove of chopped garlic
Optional (but encouraged) Blood Sugar Balancing Toppings:
1 egg cooked however you like
1/2 of a sliced avocado
3-4 sliced and pitted olives (I used kalamata)
A crumble of feta cheese
(I also added hot sauce…it doesn’t serve any blood sugar balancing purposes that I know of)
Instructions:
Place a pot on the stove and add your rice, water, oil, salt and turmeric. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer for about 30-40 minutes, until the rice is almost cooked. Add the spinach, peas and garlic (garlic shouldn’t be overcooked, it can impact its health benefits) and cook for another 10 minutes until the rice is cooked and the peas are cooked through. Finally, add the fresh herbs.
