Arborio rice in artichoke tea

I have been meaning to try this for a while – to cook rice with tea. Usually, I cook rice with water in a rice cooker. Sometimes, I would use a chicken or veggie broth to give the rice some addition flavor, but I don’t think I have used any other liquid base before. I came across a box of artichoke tea bags in my pantry and figured I could use that to cook the arborio rice that was in the cabinet nearby. Along with a few other ingredients, I put together a nice pot of tasty arborio rice.

I received this box of artichoke herbal tea as a gift a while back. Artichoke tea claims to have many health benefits, e.g. high in antioxidants, aids digestion, and is good for the liver. This particular one is a blend of artichoke and sweetgrass. When brewed as a tea, it quite a strong and hearty taste. If you’re interested, you can probably find these at your local asian market.

Here’s how I cooked the arborio rice with a tea base. Any other kind of rice and tea combination would probably work well too. This one is kind of a modified risotto recipe. I added some of my favorite herbs. I love adding garlic into every dish. I also sprinkled some nutritional yeast to make it creamy and give it a light hint of color.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of water
• 2 artichoke tea bags
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Boil artichoke tea bags in water. Set aside.
2. In a pot, add rice, garlic, and wine.
3. Stir until absorbed.
4. Add 1 1/2 cup of the artichoke tea.
5. Cook until absorbed, stirring often.
6. Add more liquid 1/2 cup at a time, letting the liquid get absorbed and stirring often.
7. Continue doing so for about 20-25 minutes, until the rice is tender and reaches the desired consistency.
8. Stir in nutritional yeast.
9. Sprinkle basil.
10. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!