Ochra Rice with Turmeric By Guest Blogger, Lynette Hem-Lee

Where do I, Jenna, start when I talk about Lynette?!

Lynette is one of my favorite RDs, humans and friends. Lynette and I used to work together in the retail space and one of the things I ALWAYS loved about this lady was her unique understanding and ability to connect with all people around food. She leverages her background, experience and her passion for helping all people, to help her clients feel good in their skin without giving up what they love and what is important to them, especially their cultural cuisines.

Lynette is being featured this week on the Drunk Dietitians podcast, launching on 6/12 and shares so much insight into this complex conversation.

In order to let you get a taste of her first though, I asked Lynette who is from Trinidad, to share one of her favorite recipes!

Here is what she had to say and share! ENJOY!

The cuisine of Trinidad is very varied, multi ethnic and multi-cultural.  Our foods are influenced by the Creole, Indian, African and Chinese and to some degree from the European, Amerindian, and Lebanese cuisine. 

Rice is a staple and is made into a lot of different one pot dishes, cooked slowly, to marry flavors.  We add pepper sauce or hot sauce to everything!!

The ochro and rice dish is one of my favorites!  It is traditionally made with salted pig tail or salted cod fish (bacalao).  In my quest to enjoy my traditional food without compromising flavors, I recreated my own recipe with the help of Chef Chris from CaribbeanPot.com

Ochro (Ochra) Rice with Turmeric

Ingredients:

• ½ cup onions

• 3 cloves garlic chopped finely

• 1 sprig scallions roughly chopped

• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

• 5 sprigs thyme leaves

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• ½ teaspoon berbere spices

• ½ cup chopped red bell pepper

• 2 tbsp fresh pimento peppers or jalapeno peppers

• 2 cups jasmine rice

• 12 ochroes, sliced (1/2”) or 1lb frozen chopped ochroes

• 1 cup diced calabaza pumpkin

• 1 ½ cups coconut milk

• 1 ½ cups low sodium vegetable stock

• 2 tbsp avocado oil

• 1 hot pepper

Directions:

1. Using a large saucepan on a low flame, build flavor as follows:  add 1 tablespoon avocado oil, garlic, onions, scallions, chopped parsley, fresh thyme leaves and a pinch of black pepper, sauté for 2 mins.  Add 1 teaspoon turmeric and berbere for color and flavor. Next add pimento peppers or jalapeno peppers and stir until softened.

2. Add Jasmine rice without washing, and stir to coat the rice grains with the flavoring seasonings.  Let rice toast to bring out the nutty flavors for 3 mins. Turn the heat up to medium.

3. Add pumpkins, ochroes, and stir to mix in everything.

4. Add a pinch of salt, coconut milk and vegetable broth or water.

5. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, ad the whole hot pepper cover and cook for 15 – 17 mins. 

6. Uncover and make sure the liquids are absorbed, turn of the heat, return the cover and let sit for 15 mins.

7. Remove the cover and pepper, using a fork, fluff the rice, to bring out all the flavors!

****Serve with a side salad of chopped, cucumber and tomatoes or avocado

For more from Lynette, you can find her on instagram as @thesimpledietitian

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Written by Jenna Werner

Hey there, I’m Jenna! I'm a Registered Dietitian, online nutrition coach and serious food lover. I'm ready to help you quit dieting forever and fall in love with the way food makes you feel.

Learn more about me and the HSH offerings here.