Rice Bowl with Spinach and Smoked Trout
I’ve fallen a little bit in love with Martha Rose Schulman’s recipes for the New York Times. Like our beloved Heidi Swanson, she manages to make healthy food feel vibrant and modern––a far, distant cry from tofu eggplant bakes. Martha also features fish and chicken in some of her recipes, a boon for hungry carnivores.
Smoked trout always feels pretty luxurious and continental to me, even more so than smoked salmon. You only need a little for this recipe–one ounce per person––as the fish plays a salty, unctuous foil to fragrant red rice, fresh spinach, and earthy sesame seeds.
Oh, and a word about that red rice: I’m newly obsessed with its lightness, and substituted it in for Martha’s suggestion of sprouted brown rice since I couldn’t find that. Have you ever used sprouted rice? It sounds awesome.
Mostly, though, this recipe reminds me of how I would like my lunch to feel more often: robust and balanced, it’s the kind of meal that makes you feel healthy, very together, and ready for the afternoon (kind of like this radiant millet bowl). Now doesn’t that sound admirable?
This recipe is easily scaled up a dining companion.
Rice Bowl with Spinach and Smoked Trout
from the New York Times
Serves 1
3/4 cup cooked sprouted brown rice or red rice
soy sauce to taste (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil, to taste
1 cup spinach leaves, or a mixture of spinach and arugula, tightly packed
zest of 1/8 lemon
1 ounce smoked trout
1 lemon wedge
1 sprig cilantro, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, to taste
Season the cooked sprouted brown rice to taste with soy sauce, and place in a large, wide bowl. Stalk the salad greens and cut crosswise into thin strips (chiffonade). Alternatively, place the greens in a bowl and cut into small pieces with scissors. Toss with the oil and pile over the rice, or toss with the rice. Break up the smoked trout, and place on top of the spinach. Squeeze on a few drops of lemon juice and top with the cilantro. Scatter on the lemon zest, sprinkle on the sesame seeds and serve.
Cadi: What a decadent sounding lunch! I’m with you on wanting lunch to be more well-rounded and robust and healthy. I’ve been doing pretty good lately with lots of salads and veggie-laden goodness.
This would be great for a picnic, too: layer it in pint-sized mason jars parfait-style, so you can see each ingredient in its glory, and then mix it all up just before eating.1 year ago
Kristina Strain: Parfait-style. Wow, what a terrific suggestion!
I was going to say: yes, I love Martha Rose Shulman as well. Her cookbook, 200 Best Vegetarian Recipes, was the first cookbook I ever bought for myself, summer after my freshman year of college when I had an apartment for the first time in my life. I still consult it, near-weekly, for ideas.1 year ago
Julie: I used to think I didn’t like smoked trout, but I tried it recently at a yummy seafood spot in Rhode Island. What was I thinking?! It’s amazing!!! This looks awesome.
And PS, Cadi, what a fun idea to layer everything for a pretty picnic dish! Would maybe be good w/ some plain yogurt mixed in there, too.1 year ago
I’m with everyone else when I say: great idea, Cadi! Anything in mason jars is a dose of pretty in my book.1 year ago
Gemma: this looks and sounds delicious, I haven’t had smoked trout for a long time but you’ve just reminded me how much I love it. I think this will be dinner one night next week.1 year ago
Sense of Home Kitchen: We have been enjoying some smoked trout lately and this recipe sounds like a wonderful lunch idea.
~Brenda1 year ago