Here is an old and comforting dish of rice and lentils topped with crispy fried onions.  Usually, you start the lentils then add the white rice after 15-20 minutes.  Brown rice is a nutritious whole grain with the bran and germ intact.  It takes longer to cook than polished white rice, so we are starting the rice and lentils together.  The spice blend (to which we are tempted to add a ¼ teaspoon of cardamom) is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Yogurt with chopped sweet herbs like parsley, mint and tarragon stirred through makes a great topping.

Black rice, pumpkin and wild mushrooms; ingredients for an enchanted risotto to serve on Halloween.

Originally from Valencia.  It is a generous and varied dish full of choice morsels, but the real star is the saffron rice.

The recipe calls for chicken stock. Lacking that or having vegetarian convictions, use the cooking liquid from blanching the vegetables or plain water.

The combination of extra virgin olive oil scented with the essential oil of organic Sicilian lemon and cardamom is hauntingly elusive. Carnaroli rice is much appreciated in Italy for rice salads and other dishes that require that the grains be well separated.

Venere Nero is a hybrid of Imperial Black Rice and an Italian varietal, harvested from the traditional rice-growing areas of the Po
River Valley. This rice is a whole, unprocessed and nutritious grain. This salad is simple to prepare, fresh-tasting and gorgeous in the
bowl. Recipe created by Chef Natalie Maxwell.