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Carrots.

For a long time, I didn’t find carrots exciting.  To me they were the thing that Bugs Bunny lusted after (along with Popeye eating spinach) or the crunchy things on the veggie tray I loved to smother with ranch.  Sure it had a nice bright color but really, the flavor was boring (this coming from a child who was probably eating McDonalds at least once a day.)

It really wasn’t until I harvested my first carrots from the csa that I realized how much I under-appreciated poor carrots.

Carrots have this slightly earthy, slightly sweet taste to them that take on other flavors really well.  With sweet potato season out and an abundance of carrots from the csa, I’ve found myself forming meals around carrots.  Carrots have a unique ability to be useful at any texture.  If I want a bit of crunch, I simply don’t cook them as long.  They are great roasted, steamed, or simply raw.

I’ve made these soy-glazed carrot spring rolls at least a half dozen time and this curried carrot soup in batches so that I could freeze for later. 

Then this rice came about.

Every week I cook up large batches of grains and beans then freeze over half.  This way, when I need a quick meal, I’m not waiting on my grains to cook.  I’ve got them ready to go.  That’s really what makes this dish even better- I had it done in under 20 minutes.

My cooking is continually leaning towards simple-what can I do that has the least amount of ingredients but still have a delicious taste.  If you don’t like the taste of ginger, this really isn’t for you (or limit the amount you put in the dish.)  To make this vegan, simply sub your favorite sweetener for the honey and to make this gluten-free, well, just watch your ingredients.

 So if you happen to see carrots at your market, get them and start experimenting.  (oh, and pass up the baby carrots in the grocery store- they are just big carrots carefully processed to look baby and cute.)

Carrot Ginger Rice
 
Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Recipe type: Vegetarian Main Course
Serves: 2

Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1½ cups shredded carrots, about 2-3 large carrots
  • 1½ cup cooked brown rice (about ¾ cup uncooked)
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tamari (soy sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
  • Unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

Instructions
  1. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium low heat. Add in garlic and ginger, cooking until they both become fragrant-roughly two minutes. Stir in shredded carrots and cook for 1-2 more minutes.
  2. Whisk together soy sauce, honey, vinegar, and sesame seeds. Pour over carrot mixture and cook until heated through.
  3. Finally, stir in rice and cook for 3-4 minutes or until rice is warm.
  4. Serve with toasted coconut.

Notes
Other ideas I had: stir in spinach when adding the rice for a little extra color and veg. Fry an egg to go with it as well. Also, I think this would be delicious with any type of left over grain: quinoa, bulgur, etc!

 

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  • http://warmvanillasugar.com/ Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar

    I like ginger and I like carrots, so this rice IS for me! Yum!

  • http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/ Maria

    oh yum!

  • http://thefigtree.blogspot.com/ Courtneyraejones

    This is going on the menu for the week! Sounds fantastic. :) Have a great weekend!

  • http://www.culinarycolleen.com/ Colleen

    I think I started appreciating carrots last year when I got some really good ones at the farmers market. What a great use for them!

  • http://www.monster-cakes.blogspot.com/ Jessica Zigenis

    I always love your recipes. I wasn’t raised learning how to cook or eat naturally, but with your recipes, it seems attainable and delicious. Thank you for opening up a whole new world to me.

    ps. I’m always pinning your scrumptious recipes on pinterest so I can easily access them later, but I know there’s a lot of controversy about pinning right now, so please do let me know if you’d rather I not pin them. I would totally understand and would rather not offend you. Thanks. : )

    • naturallyella

      First off, thank you for such a sweet comment. It’s hard to express through text how much it means to me! Second, pin away! Thanks for your comment, Jessica!

  • rvank

    Yum! What a recipe. And look at those carrots!

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  • http://theindolentcook.blogspot.com.au/ leaf (the indolent cook)

    Looks beautiful, and scrumptious. I like what you said here – “My cooking is continually leaning towards simple-what can I do that has the least amount of ingredients but still have a delicious taste.” – that is pretty much the way I roll, too. ;)

  • http://sunshineandsmile.com/ Kankana

    I have started eating brown rice only very recently and this is definitely the dish I am making next :)

  • Lauren Estes

    This might be a dumb question, but do you do anything special to freeze your grains? or do you just cook them and toss them in a ziploc or freezer container? Thanks!

    • naturallyella

      Nothing special- I usually under cook them just a bit if I know I will be re-cooking them in a dish but other than that, I just let them cool and toss them in the freezer!

  • http://freshandfoodie.com/ Fresh and Foodie

    This looks really great. I’m not a huge fan of carrots, but when paired with ginger they become something really special.

    I too make a batch of grains and beans over the weekend. Bookmarking this for one of those nights when I’m drawing a blank when it comes to dinner ideas.

  • KimSteinmetz

    I made this for Easter dinner–WOW! It was great! My whole family really loved it! I found this recipe for brown rice at the same time: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Perfect-Brown-Rice. I doubled the rice and froze half on your suggestion (just in a ziplock bag). It worked out perfectly. Thanks so much!

    • naturallyella

      So glad it worked- thank is exactly how I make my rice and it never fails!

  • http://happyolks.com/ Kelsey

    This is LITERALLY a version of our staple weeknight meal. Rice. Veg. Oil. Herbs. This is totally advanced placement though, I like the toasted coconut. Your pictures get more and more beautiful with each post, friend. :)

  • Ruby

    Thanks for the recipe! I made just it for lunch, just halfed all the ingredients. I used black forbidden rice instead since I had some leftover in the fridge, and I threw some grilled ahi tuna in at the same time as the rice, since I had some of that leftover in the fridge too!
    Delicious!

  • Christina

    I made this today for the first time, and I am happy with the results. I had been looking for a new way to eat brown rice, and this recipe caught my attention. Next time I make it I want to try adding some chopped up bits of McIntosh apple, as I have found that to go very well with carrots.

  • Fork and Whisk

    HI Erin, I made this recipe tonight for dinner. So delicious! I added baby bok choy and topped it with poached wild salmon. Thank you for sharing the recipe and helping me use up some of my over-abundance of carrots. This will definitely be a go-to recipe for my family.

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  • Amy

    I just tried this recipe and I love it! Colorful, tasty, simple, and I always have those ingredients around. I used apple cider vinegar instead of the rice wine vinegar and omitted the sesame seeds. Definitely will be a staple here, thank you!

  • Dorothy

    Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for the wonderful recipes. This was
    outstanding! I used a harvest grains blend instead of the rice. I will
    have to remember not to to so much multi-tasking while toasting coconut,
    however. It was a little burned, but still a quite delicious topping!

  • Marilyn Lauzon

    This recipe is really good!!! Thanks!

  • athursto

    Omg omg finally made this one. SO GOOD!