Thursday, June 17, 2010

Rice Balls

Funny story behind these little buggers...

My first night in Greece (well, technically the second since I slept from 3 p.m. till 9 a.m. the first day), our group went out to eat together in Athens and ended up at a Spanish bistro. The menu had a lot of really unique items I'd never heard of, so I went with something that sounded appetizing: Rice Balls. Basically, they are balls or rice and cheese rolled in bread crumbs and fried. Healthy right? But definitely delicious. The name struck my friend Kim and I's funny bones...we couldn't stop saying it all night.

Later, we were playing a lively game of kings cup in our hotel room, and someone made a rule that everyone had to nickname the person to their right and the name had to stick throughout the entire game. (little did we know, the names would stick throughout the entire trip). Still amused from our dinner convo, we decided to nickname our friend Paul "Rice Balls". I still call him that to this day.

So, of course, I decided to make them, sans cheese and with GF bread crumbs. Enjoy!!

Rice Balls

2 c. arborio rice, cooked
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. water
1 tbsp. tapioca starch
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 c. Orgran rice crumbs
salt and pepper

Mix rice, olive oil, pumpkin, salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, whisk the veggie oil, starch and water. Form the rice mixture into balls, cover with the starch mixture, then coat with bread crumbs. Fry in safflower oil in a hot skillet until golden brown, then flip to brown other side. Serve and enjoy!!

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