Summer Essence - Coconut rice with herbs and greens

Fresh. Versatile. Satisfying. Unusual.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on panel. All the leaves and petals of summer together on a hazy warm and sunny day.

Did you know you can download images of the paintings for your own personal (not commercial) use? Computer wallpaper, Facebook profile picture, yes you can. Find your favourite painting on Flickr, go to actions, view all sizes, download the size you want to your device, set it as your wallpaper or profile. And tell your friends where it came from :)

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available shortly for $150. To find out exactly when that is, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left.

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The meatless meals recipe

This recipe was one of those wild experiments that I embarked upon one evening when we had guests. It has been raved about ever since, and it has taken quite some time to recreate to the same rave worthy high standard. The secret is the sheer amount of herbs. This dish is really only economic to make if you grow your own herbs or can buy in bulk. Those tinsey wincey little packets the supermarkets sell won't go very far at all here. The downside of making this is all the chopping and measuring. Enlist help with the chopping! Besides, it's fun to chatter over food preparation before eating together. The upside is that it's quite a flexible recipe. Really, you can top it with whatever summery veges you have to clean out the fridge or help empty the garden.

Coconut rice (SERVES 4):

1 cup coconut milk (not cream, it's too rich)

2 cups rice

3 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

Put all the coconut rice ingredients in a pot and cook at a slow simmer with a lid on until all liquid is absorbed. 

Then leave the rice to steam itself dry in the pot with the lid on.

Or put all the ingredients in a rice cooker and cook normally, leaving the rice on 'warm' until ready to serve.

Herbs (PER SERVE):

3 tablespoons chopped coriander
3 tablespoons chopped basil

2 tablespoons chopped mint

2 tablespoons chopped chives

2 teaspoons chopped dill

pinch sugar

juice of half a lime
small handful of a peppery leafy green ie rocket, mizuna, nasturtium leaves  

optional herbs:
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon chopped sage

A selection of other toppings:

Edible flowers - nasturtium, borage, calendula, violet or others that you know of

Vegetables - raw and julienned or sliced fine; or cooked as you please - carrot, zucchini, capsicum, eggplant, cucumber, spinach, corn, beans

Scrambled egg, tempeh or (fried or marinated) tofu

When the coconut rice is cooked, all the herbs are chopped and the other toppings have been prepared, serve the rice into bowls, and mix in the herbs, sugar and lime juice.
Add the peppery leafy green, then top with the other toppings selected.

Add a dash of soy sauce to taste if necessary.

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More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

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