A couple of weeks ago, Josh and I were at Camros Organic Eatery, one of my new faves in the city. The way the restaurant works is that you can pick a plate and add to that plate a choice of two, three or four salads. We each went for the foursome and are pretty sure we also went through the same bizarre nutritional thought process in choosing the salads. Had to have some greens and so we each took the kale salad. Quinoa being the king of grains, we each chose that one too. Hmm… complete protein meant taking on some beans. I went for the black bean salad and Josh elected for some chickpeas. The final selection was a no brainer: a rice ball filled with lentils.
As we dug in to the vegan goodness, we contemplated this rice ball. We fully geeked out nutrition-style as we tried to work out how they got the curried lentils inside the rice ball. Not quite as mysterious as how they get the caramel into the Caramilk bar but we were intrigued none-the-less.
I am not one of those people that looks at art on the wall in a gallery and simply admires it. Nope. I have to go home and figure out how it was made and try and do it for myself. Apparently same goes for rice balls. And you know what? I did it. I went home and studied the Camros menu, which helpfully includes bips and bobs of ingredients. I decided I would make the brown rice and tomato marinara rice ball, mainly because I had some marinara in my fridge leftover from a cooking class I had taught a few days earlier.
Brown Rice Marinara Balls
Brown Rice Shell
1/2 cup brown rice, soaked for 6-8 hrs (not necessary but recommended)
1 1/4 cups water
½ zucchini, grated
1 clove of garlic, minced
½ onion, chopped
- Rinse brown rice thoroughly and put in a pot with water, onion and garlic.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for about 20 minutes.
- Add zucchini on top and continue to simmer another 10-15 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is soft. We will be overcooking the rice a little to make it sticky.
- Stir well to mix in zucchini
Amazingly Simple Marinara Sauce
1 tomatos, chopped
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, soaked
1 Tbs fresh basil (or 1/2 Tbs dry)
1 tsp fresh oregano (or 1/2 tsp dry)
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
8-10 black olives, sliced
1/2 tsp sea salt
dash cayenne
- Place the garlic in the food processor and process until finely chopped.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and process until well-chopped.
- Add the fresh tomato, red pepper, and the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula.
- This sauce can be enjoyed as a raw marinara, but for the sake of making awesome balls, throw it into a pan and simmer until the sauce thickens appropriately.
Step by step ball making guide.
- Line a muffin tin with plastic wrap. I used one of my stray plastic bags and just cut it flat.
- Line the plastic lined muffin tin with brown rice as you would a pie crust.
- Spoon a dollop of marina into the brown rice ‘cup’ leaving about a ¼ inch space at the top
- Take another handful of brown rice and form a patty in your hands and gently place it on top of the marinara filled rice ‘cup’.
- Ever so carefully, remove the plastic liner and rice from the muffin tin and flip it on to a plate. These babies are remarkably durable.
Again with this Josh?
Seriously, those rice balls look yum-o! A recipe to try.
Hello there! I happened to come across your blog and it looks great, this recipe looks too yummy! Its such a creative idea and I have never even thought about doing that. I cant wait to see what else you post about!
Michal
Ohh! They’re so cute! I love when food is delicious AND crafty!
I have that annoying habit too. My dinner-mate will be like, “Mmm, this is yummy!” and I will be like, “Mmm…Let’s go home immediately so I can try to duplicate it.”
what a clever recipe…would make fun appetizers too!
MMM
This is a great idea! I actually just had a Japanese-inspired rice ball (wrapped in nori. Yum!) yesterday from the Trinity-Bellwoods farmer’s market and was wondering how I might make one at home. Thanks for the tips!
Once I had a taste for nori, I ran home to make myself some miso soup!
what about just using the traditional ‘sticky’ rice recipe for the rice (with rice vinegar)? and isn’t there some Chinese recipe somewhere for rice balls as well that you could get indeas from? these do look jummy. (scuse the ‘j’, but my Dutch friends have influenced me)
Yep, you are definitely a ballsy woman Meghan!
I’m with The Veg Next Door… you’re going a lot of places with Josh
These look yummy! I have never thought about soaking rice. I’m a little slow.
I love these rice balls! They look so delicious and perfect for a make-ahead-of-time dish!
VegNextDoor and Jen… or perhaps I should call you Meddling Melodies… The dinner was the same night as the fig from a few weeks ago. Simmer down ladies!
Elain- I try and avoid vinegar as much as possible and rice wine vinegar does not so fun fermenting stuff in my tummy.
Glad I helped inspire with these balls, let me know what you come up with!
And Andrea, I am at the Trinity Bellwoods market almost every Tuesday. If you ever see me there (I’ll have the flowered bicycle) please come say hello.
Oh, was it the same night that you gave him a coconut?
I guessed a CD of a Byron Katie talk but I doubled checked just to be sure.
So when are we going to meet this Josh?
In what form would you like to meet him? I link to him. Not enough?
I guess it’ll do.
These look fabulous. The perfect accompaniment to those other salads–or even just on their own!
You just inspired me! Thank you! I really needed some kitchen inspiration.
I like this idea, now I want to think and try some more fillings!
This is such a simple and wonderful idea, love it ! Can’t wait to try this one
What a great little idea! Kids would get a kick out of this, and they could even help with the preparation!
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Meghan,
I made these the other day for the first time and they were exxxxccceeelleeeennntt (said in my best ‘Mr. Burns’ voice from the Simpsons)! My husband is picking up on the ball theme (I can’t get enough of the Super Hero Balls). Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer
Yep. So glad you are keeping tabs
And what did he give me? This is a test.
Let me know what you come up with!