Bloke's Cookbook - Roasted vegetables and rice

This speedy, simple recipe is healthy, vegan and good for you. By rights, it shouldn't belong on this page at all, since there's nothing that qualifies it as Bloke Food. That said, many of you will have a girlfriend or wife whose idea of Ideal Food is not dead animal in between two slices of bread and we have to pander to those tastes.

This recipe can be used as a very quick evening snack - it can be prepared in a few minutes in the morning and flung in the oven when you get home - or as a core side dish for a barbecue. This recipe serves two people - just scale it up and keep cooking times the same if you're serving more.

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers;
1 large onion;
2 medium tomatoes;
4 cloves garlic;
olive oil;
salt and pepper;
rice.

Equipment:

1 baking tray;
1 sharp knife;
1 saucepan with a lid.

Switch the oven on to around 170C. Prepare the vegetables first. Do this by cutting the peppers, onion and tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Peel the cloves of garlic, cut them into halves or quarters. Pour some olive oil onto the baking tray. Put the vegetables onto the baking tray, push them around in the oil to get them covered, then season with salt and plenty of ground black pepper. If you've been a bit mean with the olive oil, chuck some more on. The vegetables should be coated, but not swimming, in oil.

Put the tray in the oven. Then put the rice on to soak. The veg will take about half an hour to cook which gives you time to prepare the rice, too.

This next bit assumes that you've bought the same rice as me - the stuff that needs to soak for about 20 minutes before you use it. If you haven't, adjust your times to suit your rice.

After the rice has soaked for 20 minutes, rinse it through with plenty of cold water to get rid of the excess starch. Then put enough water in the saucepan to cover the rice plus about half an inch. Then put the pan on the stove, put the lid on, and turn the heat up to full. When the water is boiling, turn the heat right down. With the lid on, the rice will steam which fluffs it up. The rice should be ready in about ten minutes.

Once the rice is cooking, open the oven and check the progress of the veg. The peppers should have begun to brown and the tomatoes to cook right through. Turn over any pieces of pepper or onion that haven't.

You'll be able to tell that when the rice is cooked because some of it will be sticking to the bottom of the pan. If you take the lid off and it's not, then it's not quite done and needs a couple more minutes. Put the lid back on, turn the heat up to max for ten seconds then turn it back down.
Don't worry about the roasting veg if your rice is taking longer than expected. It's hard to overcook it. Just turn the oven down and leave it where it is.

Once the rice is done, take it from the saucepan and put it in a serving bowl. It shouldn't need straining since the water will all have steamed off. Then take the veg from the oven, pour the olive oil and juices over the rice, and heap the vegetables on top.

The whole thing can be done in around 30 minutes, with practice, including preparation, and makes for a filling meal (although I can't help feeling a couple of sausages would set it off). It takes practice to get the timing of the rice and roasted vegetables right - it depends on your oven, your rice and your stove amongst other things.

Drink with: Take your pick, frankly. It's a quick and easy meal.

Ease of cooking and preparation: 4/5 - No special skills required apart from knife-wielding.

Mess Factor: 4/5 - A few peelings, a couple of things to wash up.

Leftover value: 1/5 - I don't rate cold rice and cold veg as an ideal snack.