Vegetarian Dish - Shauna's Special Rice

I've been feeling like I've eaten too much meat lately. I mean, did you ever feel like you crave for that yummy and guilt-free food? I personally enjoy a lot of guilty pleasure food, you know, like fatty and fried food. But every now and then I want something healthy too. And this one here is a recipe from my friend, Shauna. Trust me, it is super simple, super cheap, and it tastes super too! I tried cooking it today and I had 2 bowls within a few hours.

These are the ingredients for 2 serve;

- 1 cup of brown rice

- about 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic

- half brown onion, finely chopped

- about a cup of pumpkin, cut finely

- 2 carrots, grated.

- half a handful of parsley, finely chopped.

- a little bit of oil

- a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder

I only had to spend around $5 for the ingredients. I just had to buy pumpkin, which cost me $3 and I actually only need half of it, and 2 carrots that cost me 40 cents, brown rice $2 a pack. I already have everything else at home. So, that's about not even $4 per serve.

And this is all you have to do,

1. Brown the chopped onion and crushed garlic with a little bit of oil until softened. Then add in the pumpkin and grated carrots cook it for a few minutes until they start to soften.

2. Add the stock powder, and chopped parsley, cook for another minute.

3. Place the brown rice and 2 cups (or a little bit more if you're cooking with extra vegetables) of water in a saucer pan, cook with medium heat until the water starts to boil.

4. Add in the vegetables, and cook on low heat and covered for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Turn off the heat, and let it sit for 20 minutes. (Shauna said this will make the rice fluffy, and she's right. I never knew this trick before). And that's it.

You would love this recipe, I promise. I love the flavour of the pumpkin and the carrots together with the  fluffy texture of the rice, it's brilliant. Shauna actually suggested to serve this with parmesan cheese or steamed green beans, but to me it's perfect just by itself. Hmmm... for once I get to pig out on something yummy and I don't have to feel guilty about it...