In the last few days I’ve been experimenting some new recipes and I ended up with small portions of different vegetables leftover. Hence I decided to prepare one of my favorite dishes, red Thai rice with stir-fried vegetables. Red rice grows in various countries of the world and it often grows wild in soil rich with clay. It has an aromatic taste, when you cook it its aroma will fill your house. The Thai rice I buy comes from the provinces of Chachoengsao and Chiang Mai in the North and East of Thailand. It is imported by CTM Altro Mercato – the principal organization of fair and supportive trade in Italy – from Green Net a Thai social enterprise that works to promote sustainable agriculture providing fair trade market access to producer groups producing organic and certified products. 1300 families are involved in the cultivation and production of the rice. The cooperative is also a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) the global representative body of over 350 organizations committed to 100% Fair Trade.

In Thailand Red this rice is usually consumed for breakfast due to its sweet taste. It’s also really good and tasty if served with stir fry vegetables like in my recipe. You can also add cubed chicken breast or tofu. I particularly like the combination I chose for this recipe, but the vegetables can be substituted with different ones you might like better or others can be added like zucchini, pea pods, soy sprouts, cabbage etc.

Ingredients:

10 oz. red Thai wholegrain rice
1 cup chopped onions
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 green bell pepper
1 cup chopped winter squash
2 Tbsp. pinoli (pine nuts)
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 to 2 Tbsp. fresh finely chopped rosemary
2 Tbsp. pine nuts or sunflower seeds
sea salt to taste

Preparation:

Cook the rice as directed, it should take about 35 minutes. Salt the water with coarse salt just the last 10 minutes. Strain the rice and set it aside.
In the meantime warm up 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a nonstick skillet, add the onions and cook them for about 4 minutes then add the garlic, celery, carrots and squash and continue cooking for other 4-5 minutes at medium high heat. Add the bell peppers and and cook the vegetables for 5 more minutes. Salt to taste.
In a small nonstick pan toast the pine nuts for few minutes until golden.
When vegetables are cooked add the rice and season it with the rosemary. Mix until well combined and salt to taste. Add the pine nuts and serve.