At this time of year, I love cooking dishes that I can throw together. All of the elements from this stir-fry last for a good amount of time and take just a little prep work. The best part of this dish is perhaps the wild rice, which is in fact not a rice at all. I discovered this way of ‘blooming’ wild rice a few years ago when I was teaching in Barcelona and I’ve been taken by it ever since. A great way to increase variety in your meals is to include less common plants and the ‘rice’ in this way provides a totally different nutty texture and technique to this dish and many others.
Serves: 2
Time: 30 minutes, plus overnight sprouting
Photography: Sara Kiyo Popowa
Food Styling: Lauren Lovatt
Season: Spring
Ingredients
150g wild rice
1 tbsp sesame oil
250g purple sprouting or regular stem broccoli, woody ends removed
1 carrot, peeled and ribboned
¼ of a medium red cabbage, finely sliced
1 red chilli, chopped and deseeded
1 garlic clove, peeled
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger
50g sunflower or pumpkin seeds, to serve
2 pipettes CBD
For the satay sauce
100g almond or peanut butter
3 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp lion’s mane mushroom powder (optional)
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp fresh red chilli, chopped
1 tsp honey (optional)
Method
-
‘Bloom’ the wild rice the day before you want to eat this dish. Place the wild rice in a food processor to ‘score’ it.
Place the scored rice into a large bowl or container and cover it generously with water. Make sure the container is big enough for the rice to double its size. Cover the rice with a cloth or loose-fitting lid and leave for 12 hours at room temperature. You will notice the rice blooms quite quickly and you will see it curl and then soften. When the rice is significantly softer and curled it is ready to use. If you are not using it right away, you can drain it from the soaking water and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. -
Make the satay sauce by blending all of the ingredients together with 50ml (1/4 cup) water until smooth. You may need to add a splash more water so you have a thick but pourable consistency, depending on the thickness of the nut butter.
-
Cook the stir-fry by heating a large griddle pan with the sesame oil and, once hot, adding the vegetables. Sizzle until each one is cooked through; if your broccoli is slightly on the thicker side, add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan to help it steam and cook through. Add the drained bloomed rice and chopped chilli, and grate over the garlic and ginger. Cook for a further minute or two to release the aroma and thoroughly heat the rice.
Add a spoonful of satay sauce to the plate, top with a few spoonfuls of the stir-fry and sprinkle with the seeds and the CBD oil.
Read more: Mind Food
Lauren Lovatt has spent years researching and exploring the power of plant-based foods, and particularly how they can make us happy and boost our mental health. This book is the culmination of that passion, and it’s a beautiful, delicious introduction to eating whole foods and cooking with ingredients you may not have used before. Mind Food is published by Leaping Hare Press. Photography © Sara Kiyo Popowa.
— about the author
