Sweet Potato Rice Bowl

Mmm. I was quite happy with how this recipe turned out. I experimented by using tea as cooking liquid to cut down on the oil I needed. I've heard about cooking with tea for a while and wanted to try it out. The tea didn't give quite as much flavour to the vegetables as I would have liked, but overall I was very pleased with the taste of this recipe.

Ingredients:

2/3 c. uncooked Colusari Red Rice

1 med. large sweet potato, cubed

2 small onions, sliced

1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts (optional)

Glaze:

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp rosemary (dried)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cumin

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp raisins (or more, if you'd like)

1/2-3/4 cup black tea (I used assam, any variety would do, the earthier the better)

a drizzle of maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 380℉.
2. Cook rice according to directions (approximately 45 minutes).
3. Mix glaze ingredients together.
4. Pour glaze over vegetables and bake for 20-40 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are soft.
5. Lightly toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan.
6. Add veggies to rice, top with hazelnuts and serve.

Note: I imagine this would also turn out well with apples thrown in with the vegetables, or with cider or apple juice used instead of tea to glaze the vegetables.

Serves 2 hungry people.