“Very Brown Rice”
(adapted from a recipe in Frances Moore Lappe’s Diet for a Small Planet)
This is still one of my children’s favorite vegetarian meals, with combined proteins - and the wonderful flavor of toasted rice.
1 1/2 C brown rice
1/2 onion, chopped
3 T oil
3 1/3 C water
1/2 C lentils
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 T butter, sesame oil or margarine
When empty solar oven reaches 235 degrees or higher, place the uncooked brown rice, onion, and oil in a dark-colored, lightweight cook pot. Stir to coat rice and onion with oil, then place uncovered pot in hot oven.
The onion and brown rice will brown evenly without stirring.
When rice is as brown as it can be, add the water, lentils, salt and butter, oil or margarine. Cover with lid and set timer for 45 minutes.
When done, the lentils and onions will have risen to the top, and the rice will be perfectly cooked. Stir very briefly, and serve with fresh green vegetables. (A second pot stacked on the pot of rice can cook the veggies.)
More to come: Easy foods, tricky foods, more recipes.
Feel free to share yours!
In a nutshell: I use all my usual oven recipes and many of my stove-top recipes - which are made easier, since solar ovens don’t require stirring.
Tricky: To cook the broccoli family, lay a plate on top of the food to hold it completely under the water. And then be careful to not overcook. Check back frequently - when you notice the aroma (without even opening), remove and enjoy!
Pasta cooked in water can be tricky because it has to be taken out at the exact right time. But it can be done: bring your water to boil in your solar oven at the same time that you heat the pasta beside it, dry in a dish. When the water boils, add the hot, dry pasta and time it perfectly. You can also begin the pasta on the stove top, then move it outside to a waiting, pre-heated solar oven and, again, time it perfectly.
Breads: Open the door now and then, especially toward the end, to release the steam and let the bread brown.
Everything else: easy, easy, easy.
And food is almost impossible to burn. That’s something you can’t say about any other cooking method!
Check back for more tips later!
Thanks~
More super easy dishes:
- Sweet potatoes: Lay them on a plate and watch for them to lose their shape, and notice the delightful aroma. Ditto for other potatoes.
- Carrots and beets with rice (this dish is brilliantly colorful - see photo below): Cut up carrots and beets, and put in a casserole dish with 2 cups water, 1 cup uncooked brown rice and 1 t salt. When done, you’ll smell the gorgeous rice aroma, and see the grains all puffy and beet-red! Serve with butter, toasted sesame oil or margarine.
- Salmon, rice and corn: place marinated salmon filet in small covered pan on top of pan of rice added to boiling water with salt. Place a couple ears of corn still inside their husks alongside the stack and set a timer for 45 minutes. Make a salad. Lovely and easy.
- Chicken: Put whole bird (or parts - best on cloudy or winter days) in a covered dish, plain or dressed with stuffing and vegetables, and keep the oven directed toward the sun for an hour or more, until you smell the aroma ~ Delectable!
NOTE: Because of safety issues regarding raw poultry, beginning solar cooks are encouraged to experience cooking chicken first on a bright summer day or to “cheat” by starting the dish on the stove to get everything hot before transferring it out to the pre-heated solar oven. Or, cheat by using the Tulsi, which will allow you to plug it in for a hot start. (When using the Sun Oven, you’ll soon be able to “read” the day, and will cook poultry confidently. For more on food safety and cooking temperatures related to solar cookers, the book at left is excellent.)
Also check out this wonderful solar cookbook, featuring southwestern dishes:
- The Solar Chef: A Southwestern Recipe Book for Solar Cooking, produced by Solar Ranch. This 50-page, 8.5 x 11, spiral bound book includes an overview of different types of ovens, 2 pages of cooking tips (plus more scattered throughout the sections), and 78 recipes (most with meat, cheese or eggs) in these categories: omelets & egg dishes, casseroles and vegetable dishes, soups and stews, main courses, snacks and drinks, breads and desserts, with quite the range, from “Turkey and Rice Casserole,” “Baked Ham” and “Herb-Crusted Pork Roast” to “Gingered Sweet Potato Bisque,” “Grandma Huser’s Banana Bread,” and “Snickerdoodles!” Each recipe indicates whether it’s appropriate for a full sun or partly cloudy day. $14.95
