Food Matters Project #30: Broccoli & Cherry Rice with Acorn Squash

With the start of 2013, we’re back to doing Food Matters Project posts!  I apologize for neglecting this awesome weekly project, but after missing it for a couple of months, we’ll be doing them again!

This weeks recipe was chosen by Gracie, of Food Fascination.  Her choice was Hippie Rice, from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters Cookbook.  Check out how others have adapted and made this recipe here.  See what other recipes we have made: Fifth Floor Kitchen Food Matters Project.

As always, I love recipes from this cookbook, since they can really be adapted to what you have in your fridge or pantry.  If I’m in the mood, I love to take the idea and run with it.  So here’s my recipe, inspired by Mr. Bittman- a great veggie, non-dairy dish to get you back into the healthy groove after all those holidays!

Broccoli & Cherry Rice with Acorn Squash
Inspired from: Food Matter’s Cookbook

1 acorn squash
1 tsp salt
1 cup rice, uncooked
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Cut the acorn squash in half, horizontally.  Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and toss them out.  Lay the squash halves, cut side down, on a greased foiled lined tray.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until the acorn squash is tender inside.  Scoop out the acorn squash with a spoon or fork, add it to a medium bowl.

Meanwhile, cook your rice according to package instructions.  Remember to add 1/2 tsp salt into the pot.  Once it’s cooked, add to the bowl with the acorn squash.

Heat up a medium skillet, and add 2 tbsp olive oil.  Allow to heat up, then add the onion.  Sauté the onion for about 3-5 minutes, then toss in the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes.  Finally, add in the broccoli and soy sauce, cook for another 5 minutes.  Once it’s finished cooking, mix in the ingredients with the rice and acorn squash.

Lastly, add in the dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper- mix all of the ingredients together.  Spoon the rice mixture into the 2 halves of the acorn squash.

Oatmeal Chocolate Bars

I’m a huge fan of granola bars, oatmeal bars or any other snack that comes in a bar form.  I’ve made different bars before, and I always like the homemade one’s much more than the store bought one’s.  And you can pick your own flavors that go into it.

Also, how many times have you grabbed the organic or all-natural granola snack bar, and then turned it over to read the ingredients?  You’ll see some words that you have no idea what they are, or what they mean.  So what’s the best way to control what you put into your tummy?  Make it yourself!

These bars are great.  After we cut them up, we kept them in tupperware containers in the fridge.  I would take them to work for a mid-day snack.  By the time I would eat it at work, the chocolate would be slightly melty, and the granola would be soft.  Feel free to play around with different flavors of the dried fruit, or change the type of peanut butter.  There are so many varieties to be made.

Not only do these make great mid-day snacks, but they’re also a fantastic way to fuel up before a long run (or after)!  Maybe bring it with you when you’re traveling in the car, or a flight (it’s way better than those pretzels!).

Oatmeal Chocolate Bars
Adapted from: Eat, Live, Run

1 cup of honey
2 tsp maple extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup creamy sunflower butter (or peanut butter)
2 cups of oatmeal oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup dried pomegranate seeds
1/4 dried currants
1/2 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup of chocolate chips

Combine honey, maple extract, salt, sugar and sunflower butter in a small saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil, and then simmer for 4 minutes while stirring it.

Add the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, dried pomegranate seeds, dried currants,  dried cherries to a large bowl.  Once the honey-sunflower butter mixture is done cooking, add it to the large bowl.  Fold the two mixtures together.  Lastly, add the chocolate chips, but be sure to not melt the chocolate chips.

Grease a 9×12 inch pan, and then pat down the bar mixture.  Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, and then cut the bars into the pieces.