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Low GI Mexican baked rice

This week's recipe is by Chef Tom Walton for the GI Foundation.
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Ingredients
  

  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion diced
  • 1 red capsicum sliced
  • 1 green capsicum sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp good quality Mexican spice mix
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1.5 cups basmati rice
  • 600 ml vegetable stock
  • 4 to 5 large cup mushrooms
  • 2 vine ripened tomatoes diced
  • 1 400g tin kidney beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 large handful coriander roughly chopped
  • 1 lime (juice of)
  • 1 avocado cut into wedges
  • natural yoghurt to serve

Instructions
 

  • Preheat an oven to 210C. Place a large shallow French oven pan or frying pan (that can go in the oven) over a medium/high heat and add 3 tbsp of the olive oil, onion, capsicums, garlic, and a good pinch of salt. 
  • Cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes then add spice mix, tomato paste and rice and stir everything through, cooking for 1 more minute.
  • Add stock, bring to a simmer stirring so everything is evenly mixed then nestle in the mushrooms, cup side up, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil over the mushrooms. Cover with a lid and cook in the preheated oven for approx. 25- 30 minutes. 
  • Combine the tomato, kidney beans with a little of the chopped coriander, season to taste and a squeeze of lime.
  • When the rice and mushrooms are cooked, let the pan sit for 5 minutes to rest then remove the lid and to serve, scatter the kidney bean mix and avocado over the rice and serve with the yoghurt.

Notes

Remember, low GI eating doesn’t mean giving up the carbs, it just means choosing the good ones like the basmati rice and kidney beans in this dish. A low GI diet keeps you fuller for longer, reduces cravings, burns fat, maintains metabolic rate, and provides a steady supply of fuel to your brain and muscles.
“I’ve always prioritised my health and celebrated whole foods, which are at the centre of a Low GI diet. As I’ve had a family, gotten older, and kept a busy schedule and high level of training, I embrace these principles even more with the positive effects it has on balancing my mood and energy throughout the day,” says chef Tom Walton.