Roasted Veggies w/ Brown Rice

Tonight's dinner was slightly chaotic. It really is a simple dinner to make but with all the chopping and a toddler throwing a tantrum, it took SOOO much longer to make than normal! Half the time I was making it, I had Trevor on my hip so my pictures didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. Aside from all that, it's one of my favorites and it's completely vegetarian. You could add some tofu or toss some chicken in later if you wanted to.

I love the fact that almost every vegetable I used was grown organically right here in Ramona. I"ll blog about all the great farm stands here another time. With the exception of the potatoes and broccoli, everything else was either from San Diego Organic Farms or Connelly Farms. It's amazing how much better everything tastes when it's fresh!

Ok, normally I would soak the rice prior to making this but my planning skills haven't been what they normally are. We are doing a complete exterior remodel on our house right now and I had carpenters here at 645am this morning! Fortunately brown rice doesn't have as much phytic acid as other grains do so I usually don't have trouble eating it. Here are the instructions for soaking if you were to do that.

Combine the amount of rice you want with the normal amount of water (usually 1cup of brown rice per 2 cups of water) and add 1-2 tablespoons of acid medium. I usually use cultured buttermilk, lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar. Soak for 7hrs at room temperature. After soaking just bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.

A blog that I LOVE is http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/ and she has a wonderful post about why soaking grains is beneficial and instructions for each type.

With all that said, here is the recipe!

Roasted Veggies w/ Brown Rice

1 cup brown rice

2 cups water

4 cups chopped veggies (I used beets, potatoes, broccoli, onions, carrots, zuchinni, & yellow squash)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar (regular would work too)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Soak rice for 7hrs as directed above.

2. Preheat oven to 375.

3. Chopped all veggies and toss into a large bowl. Crush your garlic and mix with veggies.

4. Add your balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mix until everything is coated.

5. Arrange veggies in a deep baking dish in a single layer. (I like to lay down some parchment paper first to make clean up much easier)

6. Sprinkle with basil, salt and pepper and stir around until coated.

7. Roast at 375 for 1 hr.

8. Cook rice according to package instructions.

9. Arrange veggies on top of rice and serve!