Red Rice "Salad"

A quick generic tip to the gluten-challenged: look for cookbooks that utilize alternative grains. The cookbook that this recipe came from is not strictly gluten-free, but it does contain recipes for some of the gluten free grains, and it's often helpful to see ways to use grains that most people have never heard of before going gluten-free.

I found this recipe in Yoga Journal, modified to be vegan, and just discovered the original. The only change YJ made was to take out the hard-boiled eggs. I'll reproduce the recipe below the fold (minus the eggs) and note any changes I made (note to the gluten intolerant, soy sauce contains wheat but fish sauce does not):

ingredients
1 3/4 cups to 2 cups water
1 cup red rice
2 tablespoons canola olive oil
4 large shallots, chopped
I wasn't quite sure how to interpret this, but wound up interpreting it more like "4 large shallot cloves", as shallots seem to be onions that grow in cloves like garlic
31 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large red chile, seeded and chopped
All I could find were small red chile peppers, so I used 3
1-inch piece ginger root, chopped
With some trepidation I did use the ginger. So far no ill effects.
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
8 ounces green beans, trimmed and chopped
I found a six ounce package of green beans that were in much better shape than the a la carte ones, so I decreased these a bit
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce1 T Fish Sauce
1/2 teaspoon molasses honey
1 large lime, quartered
Forgot about this, so the lime is still sitting in the kitchen. Maybe I can make lime-ade with it?
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, toasted and chopped

Instructions

In a 1-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, bring the water to a boil. Rinse the rice and drain in a fine-mesh strainer. Add the drained rice to the boiling water and keep the heat high until it returns to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 45 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Let the pot stand, covered, for at least 10 minutes, and then let cool to room temperature.

In a wok or large sauté pan, heat the oil over high heat. Add the shallots, garlic, chile, ginger, coriander, stir fry until the shallots are almost transparent, then add the carrot, and green beans. Stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, and molasses fish sauce and honey to the wok, and bring to a boil. In a large bowl, mix the contents of the pan with the rice. Add the basil and macadamias, then toss and serve.

I had this for lunch, with some baked fish, and it was quite tasty. If I make it again, I'll probably use more carrot and less green bean, but that's just my preference. Red rice tends to be just a bit dry, and adding the vegetables in coconut milk made up for that.

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