Rice with peas, broad beans, griddled artichoke hearts & mint
Sometimes, the most unprepossessing store cupboard and frozen ingredients can turn into an unexpected delight.
That was the case last week when I created Rice with Peas, Broad Beans, Griddled Artichoke Hearts & Mint.
I’d spent a fair bit of time developing my recipes for Moroccan-style Spicy Mutton Stew and Smoky & Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus and wanted something a little more interesting than plain couscous or rice to go with them. I’d made a mixed salad too but, to be honest, didn’t have much energy or imagination left to create another new dish.
I love chewy wholegrain, brown rice and in my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker it’s really easy and turns out perfectly every time. So I thought I’d cook up a batch and throw in a few odds and ends from the cupboard and the freezer. But I didn’t really expect it to be a blog-worthy dish at all. I just wanted to eat!
But my Rice with Peas, Broad Beans, Griddled Artichoke Hearts & Mint turned out to be utterly delicious. So I felt I had to share it here.
FREEZER STAND BYS
Besides wholegrain Basmati rice, the main ingredients were simply frozen peas and baby broad beans plus a tin of artichoke hearts. To this I added a few spring onions, butter, and mint from the garden.
Is there anyone in Britain who doesn’t have frozen peas in the house pretty much all the time? I’d recommend a bag of frozen baby broad beans too. If you want to go fancy, you can pop them out of their skins. However, on this occasion, tired and hungry, I didn’t bother.
When I reached for the tin of artichoke hearts I was surprised to find that it must have been in my cupboard for a more than a year. In fact it was now past its ‘Best Before’ date by several months.
BEST BEFORE OR USE BY?
I suspect many of you would have promptly thrown it in the bin on safety grounds. But did you know that foods with a ‘Best Before’ date (as opposed to ‘Use By’) are perfectly fine to eat after the stated date? Although the quality may be past its best in terms of flavour and texture, they will do you no harm at all.
Sure enough, when I opened the tin there was nothing wrong with the artichoke hearts. Not as interesting as those charred and marinated ones you get from delis or in jars, but perfectly fine.
However, to make these a little more attractive I decided to cut them in half, season with salt and pepper and put them cut side down on a pre-heated griddle pan, lightly brushed with olive oil, to get them nice and charred.
The transformation was wonderful. They looked so much more appetising and now had a much greater depth of flavour.
Not as fancy as the deli variety, but not bad at all. And they were cheaper too: about 80p per 100g instead of £2.
As I was going to add the baby broad beans and the peas to the still-hot rice, I didn’t bother boiling them. I just plonked them in a sieve and poured a kettle of boiling water over them.
THROWN TOGETHER: BUT DELICIOUS
After cooking the rice, I stirred in the charred artichoke hearts, the defrosted peas and broad beans, added a couple of chopped spring onions, a big chunk of butter plus some chopped mint. To meld the flavours together and to ensure everything was nice and hot, I popped it in the microwave for a few minutes and it was ready to serve with my stew.
For an admittedly thrown together dish it was pretty good! I might even invest in a few more tins of artichoke hearts.
I’ve not included a detailed recipe card with this post as I think it’s simple enough not to need one.
Do you have any easy, store cupboard recipes you love?