Home                  Fitness Articles and Helpful Links            Training Philosophy    

       My Weight Loss Story               Packages                  Fitness and Weight Loss Tips       

         Blog                    Recipes                  Online Store                 

Middle Eastern Brown Rice and Pine Nuts

Tender, mildly sweet raisins balance nicely with crunchy pine nuts in this aromatic dish.

Serves 4; ½ cup cooked rice and 2/3 cup vegetable mixture per serving

2/3 cup uncooked brown rice

Vegetable oil spray

1 ½ large onions, chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

6 ounces vegetable protein (soy) crumbles (also called TVP – texturized vegetable protein)

1/3 cup pine nuts, dry-roasted

¼ cup raisins

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground allspice, ground nutmeg, or ground cumin

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¼ tsp salt

 Prepare the rice using the package directions, omitting the salt and margarine.

 About 8 minutes before the rice is ready, heath a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove from the heat and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray (being careful not to spray near a gas flame).  Put the onions and bell pepper in the skillet.  Lightly spray the vegetables with vegetable oil spray.  Cook for 6 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to richly brown, stirring frequently. 

 Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Cook for 1 minute, or until thoroughly heated. 

 To serve, spoon the rice onto a platter.  Spoon the vegetable mixture over the rice. 

 318 calories; 8 g fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 309 mg sodium; 51 g carbohydrate; 7 g dietary fiber; 13 g sugar; 15 g protein

*Personal Note:  When I prepare this, I cook the onions and bell pepper in olive oil instead of vegetable spray.  You could also substitute either ground turkey of lean hamburger meat for the texturized vegetable protein.  For added seasoning, I like to add more cumin than this recipe says.