Wendy’s Brown Rice and Edamame with Almonds

Last fall I picked up and left for a journey out to California. I checked into the Sivananda ashram in Grass Valley for a weekend of chanting with Jai Uttal. The experience was unreal. Anyway, that was where I met and connected with Wendy! Please check out her recipe below and look forward to a few more in the future. Thanks, Wendy!

About Wendy: I’ve been veggie on and off all my life but recently moved more to plant based whole food (of Forks of Knives, etc.) diet. Cooking is a meditation for me…chopping and dicing and experimenting with flavor and texture.

I’m a nurse practitioner in Campus Health at NAU (Northern AZ Univ) and constantly appalled at the poor diet of my students…. So I’m teaching a lot of this to them as well.

My quilt quild has a huge potluck holiday party every year. Last year I was signed up to bring a salad. I hadn’t been to the grocery store in almost 2 weeks (I had been busy!) and so my challenge was to make something out of what I had on hand. I didn’t have a lot to work with, but I did have some frozen edamame. I found an edamame salad recipe that I thought I’d try, but when I made the dressing I just didn’t like the smell or the taste. It was time to create something myself.

I love the combo of ginger, soy, garlic, and honey, so decided to wing it and here’s what came out…it was a hit with just a tiny bit left after the food line died down. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and it was even better!

Brown Rice and Edamame with Almonds

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup brown rice

2 1/2 cups shelled, steamed edamame beans

1 cup roasted almonds

2 generous Tbs honey

2 tbsp fresh shredded/minced ginger

1 clove crushed garlic

1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions:

Bring 2 ½ c water to a boil; add 1 cup brown rice. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, covered until all the water is absorbed.

Steam edamame according to package directions, or about 5-7 minutes. Cool and remove the pods. You’ll need about 2-3 cups of the edamame “beans”

While the rice and edamame are cooking, prepare the dressing.

Whisk together honey, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. In a serving dish, combine the rice, edamame, and almonds and toss with the dressing.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hrs or overnight.

So easy, so good, so healthy.