Trinity Rice, A Reminder and An Update

Hello everyone, I hope your tummies are all healing nicely after your large Thanksgiving feasts. This month has been so hectic and busy for me (and all of you) that I just noticed I have not shared enough recipes and felt like I didn't have enough of a choice for my November YBR recipe. So I'm posting a new recipe to try to squeeze in right before the YBR roundup. See you're not the only ones who waits to make your final choices. So this brings me to the reminder.


The reminder: REMINDER if you want to Participate in this month's YBR round up please email me your photo and information by MONDAY NOVEMBER 29, (for people in Asian and Australia that would be early Monday morning for you.)


The update: My cookbook, An Epiphany of The Senses, has had a special holiday price reduction. The new price is only $21.99! I'm not sure how long the lower price will last so I hope you can take advantage of the lower price.

Now on to the recipe. Today I'm going to share my recipe invention called Trinity Rice. Nope not in a religious sense of name, and no it's not a dish named after Trinity from The Matrix trilogy, but rather a reference to "The Holy Trinity" of Cajun cuisine. For those of you not familiar with the word Cajun it is used to describe the French speaking immigrants that settled in the southern US state of Louisiana. Cajun cuisine is for lack of a better word AMAZING! There are so many dishes that I could tell you about (and drool all over my keyboard while I type) but it's best for you to just do a Google search on Cajun cuisine and you'll see what I'm talking about. OMG! Who's craving Crawfish Étouffée now? me me me! Back on subject, Cajuns were immigrants that were expelled by the British from the northern and eastern coastal areas of Canada. When these French speaking people settled in Louisiana their foods were influenced by all of the local mix of people. It is said that Cajun cuisine has elements of French, Spanish, African, Portuguese, Native American and even South Asian Indian cuisine.* So you can see that this exotic mix of culinary ingredients can only have spectacular results!

What is "The Holy Trinity" of Cajun cuisine? It is onion, bell pepper, and celery. These three ingredients, or the trinity, makes the foundation for Cajun cuisine. (You will find a trinity of sorts in many world cuisines but today I'm just going to tell you about this one.) I came up with this rice when I made Emeril's crab cakes and I had leftover onions, bell peppers and celery. I wanted to make a tangy rice to go on the side of the crab cakes. It's a very simple dish that is super easy and quite fast to prepare. But let me tell you the taste couldn't be further from simple. My husband liked it so much that after he took his first bite he asked if I had written down my recipe so I could make it again very soon. So with a request like I wasn't going to deny him and yes I wrote it down as I went along. (Sorry I didn't do the metric conversions for this recipe.)

Trinity Rice (serves 2)
Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 medium bell pepper, finely chopped ( I used a red bell pepper)
1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup long grain rice
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
pinch white pepper
1 3/4 cup vegetable broth, low sodium (I dissolved 1 cube in warm water)

Optional:
fresh Lime or Lemon juice

1. Finely chop the vegetables. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in large pan. Saute the vegetables until they are translucent and soft. Add the rice to the pan, stir and brown the rice for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning and the rice from sticking to the pan. Next sprinkle in all the spices, stir and cook for another 2 minutes.
2. Pour the vegetable broth into the pan and stir well. Turn the heat up to medium high and allow the rice to start to boil. Once the rice begins to boil turn heat down to a low setting cover and cook for another 15 minutes or until the rice is soft and cooked through. About halfway through the cooking time check the rice and make sure the water has not completely evaporated, if so stir in a little more. You can add a tablespoon at a time if needed to continue cooking the rice until it is soft.

If you would like to give the rice a little tangy taste add the juice of a small lime or lemon, or you can adjust to your taste. Serve as a side dish or double the recipe for a large main portion. You can also sprinkle some cayenne or chile powder over the dish to give it a little extra spiciness.

The photo you see above this text show the Trinity rice with a fish fillet. The fish is Pangasius in Chili Lemon Sauce and the recipe can be found in my book on page 22. I think this rice is another great way to enjoy that fish recipe as it gives the fish more depth but all of the spices and the ingredients really compliment each other. Plus both the Trinity Rice and the Fish recipes are really healthy and have only a small amount of healthy fats. See eating healthy food does not by any means equate to bad flavorless foods, just take a look.