Basil rice patties

For a variety of reasons, I haven’t been doing much cooking lately, and when I have been cooking, it has been things like grilled cheese or rosemary-artichoke hummus (Note to those who thought that business about making it every week was hyperbole: I have, in fact, made it every week since I first made it, and I’ve gotten a Very Special Request from a friend who wants their own supply, and this week I’ve made it twice already), and the former holds no interest as a blog recipe and the latter has, well, already been covered.

But last night, I made my way to the gym after work, and the gym is up in Cedar Rapids, because my Cedar Rapids company funds said gym, and so that meant I had about 40 minutes on the way home to think about food. To think a LOT about food. And what kind of food I could cook. And what kind of food I could cook quickly. And what kind of food would keep me from gnawing my arm off before I could get it on the table.

Thanks to a little inspiration from Lydia at the Perfect Pantry, I made some brown rice earlier in the week with an eye toward making the fried rice recipe she featured recently. But I wanted to get even simpler, even faster, and so leaned toward making eggy, rice-y patties, sort of like mini risotto pancakes, but without the pedigree.

I have basil coming out the wazoo at the moment (an interesting problem to have, one might say…), and I have plenty of eggs. A dash of soy sauce, some time in the sauté pan, and a fresh basil-tomato topping for flair, and dinner was served up with a side of DVD. It was quick comfort food, but to be fair, some of the healthiest comfort food I’ve made since, well, last week.

Basil Rice Patties
(Serves 3)

3 cups cooked, chilled brown rice
3 eggs
2 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
1/4 c. sliced fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 c. diced fresh tomatoes
Additional sliced basil leaves to sprinkle over the top
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Pour the rice in a bowl and add the soy sauce and the sliced basil leaves. Crack the eggs into the bowl and mix everything together. This can certainly be done with a spoon, but it’s more fun to use your hands. Trust me.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. When it is hot, spoon the rice mixture into the pan, making three pancake-shaped patties. Flatten the patties with the spoon. You want them to be no more than about 1/3-inch thick. My 12-inch sauté pan held three patties with room to spare, which used about half the rice mixture.
3. Let the patties cook until brown and set on the bottom side. This should take approximately seven to ten minutes. Some of the egg and soy sauce may run out and cook alongside the patties—don’t worry about that. It’s still tasty.
4. When the patties are brown and holding together, flip them quickly and carefully, using the widest spatula you have.
5. Let the patties brown for another five to seven minutes on the second side. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes and basil for the topping.
6. When the patties are done, remove them from the heat and repeat the process with the second half of the rice mixture.
7. Serve two patties per plate, topping with the chopped tomatoes and additional basil. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging for the week, which is being hosted at Kalyn’s Kitchen. Because it’s a holiday weekend here in the U.S., Kalyn won’t be posting the full round-up until Monday, but I encourage you to check it out then!