Carolina Gold Rice Cake with Blueberry Vinaigrette

By Kay MacInnis

Here is the recipe for this week, and it’s really easy and tasty. Y’all have got to try this one!

It is so good and can be used in different ways. It could be:

• Added to a salad.
• An appetizer.
• A side dish to grilled fish or chicken.

And if you haven’t tried Carolina Gold Rice, you really should. There is no significant nutrition value other than it contributes carbohydrates, but this rice is flavorful without adding salt and fat. There is no reason to cover it with gravy, as we Southerners are prone to do.

When given the choice, choose soft goat cheese, as it is slightly lower in calories and fat than the variety that comes from cows.

P.S.: Over the next three weeks, we will share the recipes entered in the Cooking Well Iron Chef Cook-off from this past weekend in Charleston. In the picture you see the team of chefs that have put together an award-winning menu. I’m the one in the front, of course.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. fresh blueberries
• lemon zest from one lemon
• ¼ tbsp. water
• ½ cup vinegar, white balsamic
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. agave nectar
• 4 oz. Carolina Gold Rice
• 4 black mission figs, diced
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 leek, diced
• 1 Granny Smith apple, diced
• Romaine Lettuce

Preparation:

• Combine first six ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
• Meanwhile, bring rice to a boil, cover and remove from heat.
• Finely chop figs, leek, red bell pepper.
• Blend in goat cheese.
• Fluff and cool rice, then add goat cheese mixture, from into rounds.
• In a warm skillet, brown rice cake on each side. Set aside.
• Put lettuce on plate and rice cake in lettuce bed.
• Drizzle with blueberry vinaigrette.
• Garnish with apple julienne strips and fresh diced figs.

Nutritional analysis: Calories, 196; Calories from fat, 35; total fat, 4 grams; sodium, 64 mg; saturated fat, 2.2 grams.

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This is another in a weekly series of healthy recipes from Kay MacInnis, registered dietitian at Providence Hospitals in Columbia.

Kay works in Health and Wellness at Providence, helping cardiac and diabetes patients eat their way to healthier lives. She’s not a chef herself, but in consultation with the actual chefs at Providence, she’s learned a lot over the years as she has worked to help patients help themselves after they leave the hospital.

She also conducts a number of health and wellness events for the public, including the monthly Providence Cooks! classes.

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