By Shaina Olmanson
Reposted from FoodForMyFamily.com
A Mediterranean-style rice bake with marinated artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato and goat cheese is just the thing for those end-of-winter days.
We live in meat-and-potatoes country. My husband grew up on it, and my family is guilty of it as well. Still, despite our upbringing, my husband and I don’t often fall back on the food of our childhood dinner tables. Instead, we choose to round out meals in a more eclectic fashion, often opting for alternative carbohydrates.
More often than not—in part thanks to our Zojirushi—we end up with a protein, a large number of vegetables and rice. We bake it, turn it into pilaf, slow cook it into creamy goodness, panfry it and add it to soups. It is definitely a staple at the dinner table, and it even makes it s way into lunch boxes at school quite often.
It seemed an obvious choice, then, when the people at Sun Foods came to see if I’d be interested in trying out their rice products, maybe creating a few recipes and becoming a spokesperson to share—well—rice with you. It was even more obvious when I learned their goal was to get families eating more whole grains, which means more brown rice, at their family dinner table.
There are days when family dinners are a daunting task. The light seems to be sucked from the sky all too quickly, leaving hungry mouths and plenty of homework, errands, and daily chores still left to do before heads hit their pillows.
Even on the busiest of days, however, I’m aware that I still need to be doing my best to provide healthy meals for those small people who are depending on me, and in those minutes, it’s wonderful to have products to turn to like Hinode‘s Brown Rice Pouches that can get brown rice on the table in just a matter of minutes.
Add to that a wide selection of products from jasmine and basmati rice all the way to black rice (you so need to try some “Forbidden Rice;” it’s a superfood, you know) and I was smitten. Luckily, so are my kids, because we’ve been eating even more rice than usual lately.
Back in January I flew down to Florida to share a few rice facts on an episode of The Balancing Act, which will air this Thursday, February 23rd at 7:00am ET – 8:00am PT on Lifetime Television channel.
If you’d like to try Hinode’s products, grab a $0.55/1 Hinode Dry Rice printable coupon or a $1/2 Hinode Microwaveable Rice printable coupon. I’ll be around here and there as we launch Hinode Rice products at Kroger, Safeway and Walmart stores. To find the nearest retailer near you, visit Hinode’s Store Locator.
This rice bake is a great meal on its own, and it reheats into enviable lunches. With preserved foods like artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes, it transitions us from winter to the beginning of spring, just as the first asparagus start to appear.
Disclaimer: I have been hired by Hinode and SunFoods as a spokesperson. Part of that role was telling you all that I’m doing it, but I also get to fly around and promote them beyond the internet, too.
Read the original article at FoodForMyFamily.com »