Steamed Brown Rice With Chard
You couldn’t want more healthful ingredients for a side dish than high-fiber brown rice and nutrient-rich Swiss chard. But if you cook the greens with oil, you can get a fattening one.
Here, onions, shallots and garlic are sauteed in nonfat, nonstick cooking spray, then the chard is added and steamed. I also steam the brown rice. There’s no need to watch it and no danger of scorching.
After tossing together the rice and chard, sprinkle each serving with a few cashews for crunch. But use just a few--they’re high in calories and fat.
Place the rice in a steamer with 1 1/4 cups of water. Cover and steam until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed, 55 minutes to 1 hour. (Or place the rice in a saucepan with 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.)
Remove the ribs from the chard leaves and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Chop the leaves into 2-inch pieces.
Spray a large nonstick saucepot with cooking spray. Cook the green onions, garlic, shallots and salt until the onion is just tender, 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped chard ribs. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover and steam 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped chard leaves and steam until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir into the steamed rice. Top with the cashews before serving.
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