Best Sweet Recipe: Rice Pudding and Pumpkin Pie with Beans
Submitted by: Magdalena Escudero (Barcelona, Spain)
“2016 is the International Year of Pulses, and I am excited that Feed the Future has chosen to spotlight beans in its recipe contest this year. This pumpkin pie recipe incorporates white beans and typifies many of the innovative recipes with which we promote the use of pulses as a functional, nutrition-boosting ingredient in breads, soups, smoothies and even desserts.
The combination of pulses and cereals, beans and rice in this recipe is a perfect way to assure the consumption of high-quality protein from purely vegetable sources. Pulses are rich in the amino acid lysine and low in methionine while cereals have high methionine and low lysine content.”
Ingredients for rice pudding
1 ½ cups whole milk
⅓ cup short- or medium-grain white rice
¼ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch of salt
Ingredients for pumpkin pie
1 cup navy or great northern beans, cooked
1 ½ cups pumpkin, cooked and drained
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon salt
Directions
- Heat the milk and cinnamon stick in a pan, simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the rice and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add the sugar and the pinch of salt, stir until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer a few more minutes until the milk has been absorbed by the rice.
- Remove the cinnamon stick.
- Pre-heat oven at 350º F.
- Cover the bottom of a 10 x 2 ½-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
- Purée all the ingredients except for the rice pudding.
- Cover evenly the prepared pan with the rice pudding. Pour the purée on top.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Run a spatula or a sharp knife around the edge to loosen the pie from the pan. This is to prevent it from cracking. Let it cool completely before removing from the pan.
Can be served with heavy whipped cream.
* According to the author, this dish is appropriate for those with celiac disease.
Best Savory Recipe: Samlor Kako: Khmer Small Fish and Vegetable Stew
Submitted by: Kira Barwich (WorldFish Center, Cambodia)
“Samlor kako, literally translated as stirring soup, is a classic Cambodian dish. It is considered a nutritious and healthy one-pot dish made with small fish and vegetables and it is promoted in the food-insecure Tonle Sap region in central Cambodia to encourage more women and children, in the first 1,000 days of life, to eat more fish and beans. Made thick, this dish can be mashed and fed as a complementary food to young children, starting at 6 months of age.”
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lb. small fish, scaled, washed and cooked whole*
1 tablespoon prahok (Khmer fish paste)
2 tablespoons tik trei (iron-fortified fish sauce)
2 teaspoons palm sugar or light brown sugar
1 teaspoon iodized salt (or to taste)
4 tablespoons ground toasted rice
5 cups water (or fishstock for flavor)
3 tablespoons green kroeung, a spice paste (see below for recipe)
1 pumpkin wedge (about 7 oz.), peeled, seeds removed, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 green papaya wedge (about 7 oz.), peeled, washed, seeds removed and shredded
2 handfuls long beans or French beans (about 7 oz.), cut lengthwise into 1 inch pieces
2 green bananas (or 1 green plantain), washed then peeled and shredded
½ cup trob put-nhorng (pea eggplant), stalks removed, washed and slightly crushed just before using
1 small eggplant, washed, trimmed, quartered and cut diagonally into slices ½ inch thick
2 big handfuls sleuk ma-raeh (bitter melon leaves) or spinach leaves
*Mekong flying barb, yellow tail rasbora, slender rasbora or any small, firm-fleshed fish may be used.
Green Kroeung can be made by mixing and grinding the following ingredients into a paste.
3 tablespoons lemon grass leaves, very thinly sliced
4 kaffir lime leaves or zest of ¼ kaffir lime
1 tablespoon peeled and chopped turmeric roots
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon iodized salt
Directions
- Before preparing this dish, wash hands with soap and clean water. Vegetables must be washed in clean water prior to preparation.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the green kroeung then stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Take care that it does not burn. Stir in the fish and prahok, and continue to fry for a further 2-3 minutes until the fish is well coated.
- To prevent the fish from breaking, lower the heat, remove from the saucepan, cover to keep warm, and set aside.
- Turn the heat back up to medium; stir in the pumpkin, green papaya and long beans; and mix well. Pour the water/stock and the roasted ground rice into the mixture. Bring to a boil, and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Return the fish to the saucepan, add green bananas, crushed pea eggplant and sliced eggplant, and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat slightly and continue cooking with lid on for a further 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the fish is cooked through. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Stir in the bitter melon leaves and remove the saucepan from heat immediately.
- Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot with steamed rice.