Purple, Gold, and GREEN: Creamy Saffron Bamboo Rice with Cardamom

Thank you to everyone who voted for my recipe in this year’s Marx Foods Recipe Contest! My Award-Winning Recipe for the “Easy Being Green Challenge” follows, featuring Creamy Saffron Rice, fragrant Cardamom, and a pinch of just the right amount of cinnamon and black pepper in this vegetarian take on Spanish-style Paella.

Whether you’re in Louisiana this Mardi Gras season or appreciating our festivities from afar, welcome to my kitchen where purple, gold, and green are always in season.

–Helana

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This weekend kicks off the Mardi Gras season in Baton Rouge, LA, and everywhere you look it’s all—

Purple . . . Gold . . .

Pictured: dancers at the beginning of the float lines for Saturday’s Spanish Town Parade.  (Shot with a 24/70mm lens by Sigma.  For more pictures, see here.)

and GREEN.

Pictured: a party-goer dressed in green caught my attention mostly because his camera matched his shirt.  Photo taken Saturday at Baton Rouge’s Spanish Town Parade.  (Shot with a 24/70mm lens by Sigma.  For more pictures, see here.)

Last year, I posted Alison’s Green Juice Detox to remind revelers that although the holiday may have us indulging every way we turn, the days leading up to Lent don’t need to be entirely cake and beer. Rather, green foods, late winter citrus, and post-holiday detoxes make for great ways to return to “normal” (whatever our version of “normal” may be….).

Pictured: krewe float guards even participate in the celebrations by dressing up in crazy (often themed) costumes, as seen this past Saturday at the Spanish Town Parade.  (Shot with a 24/70mm lens by Sigma.  For more pictures, see here.)

Although February in Baton Rouge is uniquely special to our pre-Lenten indulgence, I still need a little bit of green.  I’ve been eating kale, swiss chard, and spinach more than any other month this year, and I think high-iron greens are the way to go when it’s a little bit chilly and we may not be making the best nutritional choices (as seen, somewhat shamefully, here).

Last month, Justin Marx of the Seattle-based company Marx foods and past recipes (here, here, and here) sent me and a few other bloggers some green foods – dill pollen (fascinating stuff with twice the power of regular dill), crystallized mint, green lentils, and my favorite: bright green bamboo rice and whole cardamom.

The challenge?

“Pick two ingredients for a recipe of your choice to be voted on in this year’s Marx Foods Challenge.”

My response?

“Bring on the green!”

If you’ve ever seen bamboo rice in person, it looks more like jewelry than a grain.  And cardamom seeds have this lovely pistachio – esque quality that demands you consume them immediately (note: these are a spice, not a nut, just so we’re clear).  

Plus, one of the perks of using whole cardamom seeds comes from their subtler flavors than a version of ground cardamom you might buy at the store.  Whole seeds elegantly infuse a dish without over-powering a larger school of spices or playing too-dominant of a role.  

Pictured: my mise en place—bright green bamboo rice, whole cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and saffron.  (Shot with 24/70 by Canon with Rhett’s Canon 5-D Mark ii.)

For this year’s recipe challenge, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit some of the foodways of past Louisiana Creoles – those of the Spanish settlers who are responsible for our later use of peppers, tomatoes, exotic spices, and grains in Creole cooking.

My take on a Spanish-style saffron rice includes Marx’s bamboo rice and cardamom seeds dressed in sliced green onions with bright purple-bulbs (I’ve only seen these in Louisiana).

Pictured: Creamy Saffron Bamboo Rice with Cardamom, an easy way to serve purple, gold, and green all year round.  Green peas, bamboo rice, and green onions with bright purple bulbs create seasonal colors with natural ingredients.

Since watching an episode of Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali’s cooking show, Spain on the Road Again (one of the only episodes I could get through), I’ve had a hankering for authentic Spanish rice flavored with saffron.  Paella in its original version uses prawns and tomatoes to add body and flavor to the dish. (Simply mute the TV show’s chefs and enjoy the cooking; or, as my GMAIL account has recently been want to do, put the GOOP e-mails in your “SPAM” folder.)

Here, I’ve substituted the basmati or bamboo rice for Marx’s green bamboo rice.  I like the way it tastes and the dyed rice’s effects upon cooking: bamboo rice simultaneously diffuses green shades throughout the dish while absorbing the red and orange hues saffron releases when steeped in boiling water (or broth, which is more flavorful).

In the Spanish tradition, I finished the dish with peas, sautéed, sliced onions and garlicky green onions picked up at last week’s Farmer’s market.  This surprising combination of spices makes for an unforgettable take on purple, gold, and GREEN.

Vote for my Creamy Saffron Rice with Cardamom in this year’s recipe contest – It’s Easy Being Green!

We won!!! Thank you to everyone who voted!

 Creamy Saffron Bamboo Rice with Cardamom

Yield: 6 servings

Calories: 277.9 (see here for full nutritional information)

Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 to 55 minutes

This recipe is prepared in the Spanish style in which saffron, peas, and quality rice make a side dish filling enough for a main course.  A version of Paella for Spain, On the Road Again can be found online here and suggests some other ways this dish could be made even more flavorful with prawns, tomatoes, and authentic Spanish paprika.

Ingredients:

* 1 ½ teaspoons saffron seeds

* ¼ cup water, boiling

* 13 cardamom seeds (can substitute 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons ground cardamom, to taste; cardamom seeds are by far much milder than the ground version)

* 4 cinnamon sticks

* 1 teaspoon ground cloves

* 10 black peppercorns

* 6 tablespoons salted butter

* 1 onion, sliced

* 1 cup green bamboo rice

* 1 cup green peas (frozen is fine)

* 2 cups chicken broth

*1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1.) Bring ¼ cup water to a boil and add saffron seeds.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

2.) Melt butter over medium heat and add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns.  Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes and add sliced onions.  Cook onions until tender and beginning to brown.

3.) Add bamboo rice and toast for several minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.) Add peas, saffron mixture, chicken broth, and salt.  Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring regularly to keep rice from sticking to pan.

5.) Before serving, add more salt to taste.  Optional: remove peppercorns and cardamom before serving (or, just warn your dinner guests; I find that no one really likes to bite into an entire peppercorn seed…not intentionally, anyway!).

Makes 6 servings.

–Helana Brigman

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