Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower and Brown Rice in Garlic Sauce

I am obsessed right now with brown rice.  It is healthy, filling, and I recently discovered that they actually sell organic brown rice FROZEN!  Genius!!!!

I rarely cook it on the stovetop because it takes so darn long.  The insapot is my go-to way for cooking it because it only takes about 20 minutes or so.  With this recipe, I also use brown rice pasta which boils in anywhere from 9-11 minutes depending on the thickness of the noodles.  Most grocery stores sell it in the gluten free section, so it is fairly easy to find.

I’ve had a lot of time to come up with brown rice recipes lately since I spent an entire weekend waiting for Comcast to come and fix my TV.

So, the TV went out on a Saturday, but we still had internet and phone.  Hmmmmm.  Okay.  I went through the ritual of unplugging, then plugging in everything. I hopped on one foot, sang Beatles songs backwards, crawled around my yard looking for a four leaf clover, patted my head while rubbing my tummy.   Still nothing.

I eventually ran out of my voodoo rituals, broke down, got a bottle of wine and put a straw in it and called Comcast.  Surprisingly, I got a live person on the phone in less than 3 hours (must have been doing the hula hoop while singing “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts,” that pushed me to the front of the line there) who spent an hour with me on the phone trying to get my TV back up and running. I’m not entirely sure, but I think we had our first date while waiting for the system to reboot.  I know his favorite movies, TV shows, actors, where he grew up, how his parents met and his favorite taco bar.

Sadly, he was unable to help, but transferred me to another guy who spent an hour and a half tip-tapping on a computer, while I unplugged everything again, ran through the house trying all the TV’s, entering codes and chanting, “I do believe in fairies.”

Eventually, he threw in the towel, and transferred me to yet another department where they scheduled a real live person to come out to the house and basically do all the things they had me running around doing…..on Monday.  Two whole days away!

There was, however, a bright spot in the whole having-two-hours-sucked-out-of-your-life event.  While trying to fix the TV signal, we lost the phone signal.  I quit asking for help before we lost the internet too.

I promise you that you can have this meal on the table in less time than it takes for Comcast to lose your phone signal.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Bite-sized cauliflower florets
• 3 cups brussels sprouts halves
• 3 (small) heads garlic
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons vegetable broth
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup brown rice. ** can also serve this recipe with brown rice pasta like spaghetti or capellini)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cook rice according to package directions in water (use the instapot for faster results)
3. Toss the cauliflower and sprouts with the 2 TBS of oil, rosemary and zest.  Spread out on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Cut the tops off of the garlic heads, drizzle them with a little oil, wrap tightly in foil and roast them along with the veggies, about 30 minutes or till soft, but not mushy, when gently squeezed.  Remove from the oven, unwrap and allow to cool a bit. Keep the veggies warm till ready to serve. Squeeze the garlic cloves into a small blender or processor with the lemon juice, vegetable broth and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.  Add a pinch of salt. Process till smooth.
5. Toss the veggies and rice with the garlic sauce and serve immediately while still warm.

Enjoy!