Cheesy broccoli brown rice
Every parent fantasizes about the perfect vegetable dish, the one children will adore and eat without protest (and ask for seconds). Maybe, just maybe, this cheesy broccoli brown rice will be that dish for your family. Maybe not, but I guarantee you will lick the bowl clean, even if your kids don't.
This is a great base dish. For vegetarians, it's hearty enough to be a main course. Stir in some leftover rotisserie chicken, or grilled shrimp, to stretch it into an easy weeknight dinner for the whole family. The cashews on top are completely optional, but add a nice crunch. I make the whole recipe in my rice cooker, which is a small three-cup model, because it's just so much easier to make brown rice in the cooker. To double the recipe, use a larger rice cooker, or a Dutch oven on the stovetop.
Cheesy broccoli brown rice {vegetarian, gluten-free}
From the pantry you'll need: brown rice, parsley, basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, kosher salt, fresh black pepper, cashews.
Serves 2; can be doubled.
Ingredients
1 cup brown rice
1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets
2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil, or 1 Tbsp basil paste in a tube
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 tsp each kosher salt and fresh black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped cashews, optional (for garnish)
Directions
In a rice cooker or heavy pot on the stovetop, cook the rice according to package directions.
When the rice is finished, turn off the heat, and open the cooker or pot. Using a rubber spatula, quickly stir in the broccoli, herbs, cheese, salt and pepper. Close the cooker or cover the pot, and let the heat of the rice steam the broccoli and melt the cheese.
Top individual serving bowls with chopped cashews, if desired, and serve hot.
More brown rice:
Vegetable fried rice, from The Perfect Pantry
Brown rice and almond pilaf, from The Perfect Pantry
Ginger brown rice with carrots, from Naturally Ella
Brown coconut rice with cilantro, from Skinnytaste
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I also have a Zojirushi but it is a 5.5 Cups/1.0-Liter model; top of product line Zojirushi NP-NVC10 Induction Heating Pressure Cooker and Warmer. It does a fantastic job cooking brown rice and white rice and this machine is all about producing quality cooked rice 100% consistently but what really makes it shine is the artificial intelligence computer that remembers your cooking style and how you like your rice so each time you cook rice it will always cook it to your liking (brown, mixed, short or long grain, Chinese, Thai, Indian or Japanese style or sushi rice; you name the rice, style and little tweaks in cooking). This is an easy recipe for me to try! Thank you!!!
Ken, I hope you'll try it in your own rice cooker. I love one-pot cooking!
I love this idea and I think I have the same rice cooker you do which makes the perfect amount for small households! I'm definitely going to try this, maybe with less rice and more broccoli for a lower-carb version!
Oh good, broccoli waiting for an idea! Looks like dinner.
Susan, invite me!
Kalyn, this is one of those recipes where proportions aren't terribly important, as Julia Child used to say.
...and it was dinner, much appreciated, by me and by the neglected broccoli.
Susan, yay!
Thanks for a good side dish and easy recipe. I recently bought a rice cooker and the brown rice cooks perfectly. I hadn't thought of adding something after it is cooked.
Carol, rice cookers changed my cooking life! I never could make good brown rice before I bought a rice cooker.