I've had this half-a-packet of brown rice lurking in my cupboard for years, we rarely venture from white basmati or arborio, so tonight I thought I'd try and use it up.  As if to prove a point, the rice went out-of-date in November 2012, but who's looking?!  Anyway, Mum kindly gave me about 6 raw beetroot last week and I have a third of a block of feta to use so a quick google of beetroot and feta I settled on inventing a salad with the rice too.  Bear with me, I did not make a note of any quantities, I'll do a guestimate and make some completely uneducated suggestions...

The family verdict, I thought it was really tasty, Hubby was a bit put out by my sneaking in the celery but otherwise ate it without complaint, 'O' ate the rice, apple and cheese and 'H', as he does, shovelled in handfuls of whatever he could grasp (I left his feta in a large chunk).  So all in all, I cleared out some rice I would otherwise still be staring at, made a nutritious meal for the whole family!  Yay for families eating together.  It is also worth noting that I stripped both boys down to just nappies prior to eating... not worth risking the washing with beetroot!!
Takes 1hr (roasting the beetroot) though this can be done in advance, 25 mins for the rice and the salad veg can be prep'd whilst the rice is cooking.  Serves 2 adults, a fussy toddler and a baby.

4 raw beetroot
olive oil
1tsp fresh thyme and rosemary
salt
brown rice (I used enough for two generous adult portions)
1 stick celery
8 cherry tomatoes
1 apple
handful of fresh parsley and mint
juice of half a lemon
1/3 block of feta

  • To roast the beetroot, I washed them, left them whole, with stalks and all and put them in a small roasting tin, added about 1tsp olive oil, a teeny pinch of salt and the thyme and rosemary.  Popped these in the oven, heated to 180'c for about an hour.
  • When cooked, top and tail the beetroot, peel and cut into bite-size pieces.  Leave to cool.
  • Put the rice in a saucepan of water with another pinch of salt, bring to the boil and cook for 25mins.
  • Whilst the rice is cooking, finely chop the celery, apple, tomatoes parsley and mint, into a bowl.
  • When the rice is cooked, drain and add to the bowl of chopped veg.
  • Squeeze over half a lemon, stir well and divide between the serving bowls.
  • Add feta and beetroot to each bowl, and we're done!

Ridiculously easy, colourful and tasty.




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