Gluten-Free Recipe: Barbecue Cashew Rice

Seven days of beautiful spring weather, too good to waste indoors...lots of spring-cleaning, gardening, admiring the kittens, and I got in a little quality time with Grandma Bonnie Peters. We tested three gluten-free recipes. This rice dish contains a mix of nuts and whole grains, which makes it adequate as a vegan entree. (GBP is a full-time vegan.) There are, of course, variations for carnivores.

Ingredients for Basic Barbecue Cashew Rice

1/2 cup brown rice per serving

3 bell peppers or 12-18 ounces frozen pepper strips for 4 servings

1-2 ounces cashew nuts per serving

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce for 4 servings

Method for Basic Barbecue Cashew Rice

1. Simmer barbecue sauce, if you make your own (we used Texas Pete), and cook the rice. (If you cook rice ahead of time and have some in the refrigerator, warm it up.) Allow a little extra water to film the pan. Meanwhile, cut up fresh peppers if using them, and pre-steam them for up to 5 minutes if you like them soft.

2. When the rice is soft enough to eat, uncover the pan, add sliced peppers, raise the heat, and stir things up to soften the peppers and cook out the extra water.

3. While the peppers are steaming, stir in cashews and sauce.

Variations

1. If you're barbecuing or grilling meat, shrimp, or chicken, roast the peppers on the grill, use just a sprinkling of cashews, and serve this as a side dish.

2. Add different vegetables. Fresh-picked asparagus goes well, if you have some on hand. Onions, tomatoes, celery, fresh green peas or peapods, green beans, water chestnuts, or sliced jicama also work. A few raw sliced radishes from the garden would spice things up.