Friday, February 23, 2007

NOT NOMI MALONE'S BROWN RICE AND VEGETABLES

It's Foodie Friday time again. Two cool club points to anyone who can identify the inspiration for this dish's name.

Not Nomi Malone's Brown Rice and Vegetables
Prep Time- 40 minutes
Serves 2-4 depending on how many vegetables you like on your rice
-½ cup uncooked brown rice
-4 cloves garlic
-½ cup silken tofu
-½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
-Juice of ½ lemon
-8 basil leaves
-1 bunch asparagus
-1tbsp olive oil
-2 roasted red peppers (I use the ones from a jar but you could roast them yourself if you are cooler than me)
-4 baby bella mushrooms (I would have liked more but I only had four left)
-1/4 onion (again, I would have liked more but I only had ¼ left)

-Thinly slice thee cloves of garlic and add to rice before cooking for an extra yummy flavor
-Cook rice according to directions (for most brown rice it is one part rice to two parts water)
-Blend tofu, yogurt, lemon juice (except a tiny squeeze), 5 basil leaves, roasted red peppers to yield a nice creamy dressing
-heat olive oil over medium heat
- Cut asparagus into whatever size pieces you like (after discarding the bottom inch of course) I just cut them once through the middle because I like big pieces.
- sauté about 2 minutes
-Put dressing in small saucepan and heat over low heat
-Chop mushrooms and 2 leaves of basil and add to the asparagus and onion and the tiny leftover squeeze of lemon juice
-Cover for about 2 minutes so everything is nice and done (asparagus should be crunchy but warm and flavorful)

Spoon out about a half cup of rice and spread over the plate. Drizzle about 2-3 tbsp of dressing over the rice, Place asparagus mixture over the rice and drizzle lightly with more dressing, chop the final leaf of basil to use for garnish
Enjoy

Since the new music I got wasn't guessed at all I feel the need to say a few things about these artists. Not that I am an expert on any of them because I just found out about their music last week. Most of the links got to amazon but not cause I'm telling you to buy stuff, just because you can listen to samples.

1. Hey little boy you’re not allowed to stay/ You have to evolve inevitably/ And I’ve sure come a long way. Gettin Grown, Cee-lo Green.
I actually do know a little bit about Cee-lo. He was part of the Goodie Mob and, most recently joined forces with DangerMouse to create the unparalled Gnarls Barkley. However, I did not know he had released a solo album in 2004 entitled "Cee-lo Green and his Perfect Imperfections", can you get a better title than that? I think not. I found out about this album while browsing though my On Demand music videos and coming across one entitled "Getting Grown". The video featured Cee-lo in various teletubbie type costumes and a lot of whistling. I was very interested in finding out more. The album is awesome. The songs range from rap to r&b to soul to funk. I highly recommend that you pick it up.

2. He said “I’ll protect you like you are the crown jewels” /Yet/ Said he’s feeling sorrier for me the more I behave badly/ I can bet. Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken, Camera Obscura.
This band was a very pleasant surprise for me. The vocals are soft, almost Isobel Campbellesque, and there is a innocence to their music. I can say nothing bad about it. If you are into girls singing sweetly with kickin' harmonies to music that you can't help but bop your head to I highly recommend checking them out. The album I have is Let's Get Out Of This Country. I look forward to getting more.

3. Love is a dress that you made long enough to hide your knees/ Love to say this to your face/ I’ll love you only. Love and Some Verses, Iron & Wine.
This album is all about a guy and his acoustic guitar. His voice is soft and sincere. Some people might call it hippie music but there isn't enough funk behind most of the music for real hippies. It would be real good for sitting around and playing Monoploy to though. I hear faint traces of CNSY at times. The album I have is Our Endless Numbered Days. If a guy and his guitar is not your thing then this album is not for you. For those of you who like soothing music, catchy melodies, and meaningful lyrics; I highly recommend that you pick it up.

4. I heard rumors/ I heard talk/ About the trail you left of /Broken hearts. Smoke and Ashes, Tracy Chapman.
This isn't new and if you don't know what Tracy Chapman is about by now then you wouldn't like her music.

15 comments:

Johnny Yen said...

Okay, I'm officially an old fart. I knew only one of those artists, Tracy Chapman. I think I'd better play some Ramones on the way home from work.

Oh, wait... they're older farts. And mostly dead, too. Sigh.

notfearingchange said...

no way....i'm baking pizza - sigh...i like your receipe better tho!

Anonymous said...

Love the "Showgirls" reference! And the recipe looks good too.

Anonymous said...

That recipe sounds like one way I might actually enjoy asparagus. Will have to try it.

Also, that Cee-Lo album sounds real interesting.

thethinker said...

Looking over recipes makes me wish I could cook.

Foofa said...

Johnny- It's ok. I didn't know about any of the bands (except Cee-lo) until I realized I needed new music and went to my Amazon recommendation list and started listening to things with good cover art.

Not Fearing- I was thinking about baking a pizza. Sounds fantastic

Shylo- Two cool points for you! And welcome.

Mom- I can't believe you don't like asparagus. It is so good.

Thinker- You could cook, just follow the instructions. It's easy. Once you get a few basics down you can start experimenting and that’s where the real fun comes in.

Kiyotoe said...

Damn, I was gonna say "showgirls". Can a brotha still get his cool points. Don't penalize me for being slow.......

How about 1 cool point for coming back to the blogosphere?

think about it, get back to me.

Lizza said...

I like rice and vegetables, and this recipe looks promising.

I know only Tracy Chapman--not the others. Please don't take away my Cool Club membership!

CS said...

I have absolutely no idea about the recipe name, but Nomi may be the sister to the Beanie, whose Beanie Malone's mac and cheese recipe is a family favorite.

Foofa said...

Kiyote- You get tons of cool points for coming back to the blogosphere. Welcome, you were missed.

Lizza- You will always be in the cool club, no worries.

CSL- Wow, I have no idea what you are talking about. I'll have to look into this Beanie Malone. Nomi is the main character in Showgirls (best bad movie ever) and they kept telling her she had to eat brown rice and vegetables to stay fit.

Foofa said...

According to my email there should be a comment from Julie up here and I wanted to tell her I was sad about no ugly betty too. I wonder where it went?

CS said...

I was kidding, really. Beanie Malone was the heroine in a series of books for girls back in the 70's, I think. She was sort of a tough, nononsense, adventureous girl. But she could also make mac and cheese.

ShadowFalcon said...

Your recipies are great keep them coming (as a fellow veggie I appreciate it!)

btw totally lvoe Iron&Wine

Foofa said...

CSL- Oh, she sounds like my kind of girl!

Shadowfalcon- Veggies are the greatest! I love doing foodie friday because I have to cook something fun.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the Beanie Malone books were published waaayyy back in the 1940's. If you enjoyed them in the '70s, you must have been reading some very old books. The author of the Malone series, Lenora Mattingly Weber was born in 1895 and died in 1971.