goat cheese goodness

My mom shared this recipe with me a few weeks ago. It looked so good to me and Jeff that we put it on our meal plan for the week and made it last night with a side of steamed asparagus.

Our food processor is too small, which made making this recipe humorous to say the least, but it turned out great. Those of you with a regular sized food processor will probably enjoy the process more than we did. Yep, a larger food processor is on our wish list.

Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes

¾ cup medium-grain brown rice
1 ½ cups water
4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
6 medium shallots, chopped
2 medium carrots, shredded, using the large holes of a box grater
½ cup toasted pecans
3 oz. goat cheese
1 large egg white
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Bring rice and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer at the lowest bubble until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, 30 - 35- minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and carrots; cook, stirring often, until softened and the shallots are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Preheat oven to 400.

Transfer cooked vegetables and rice to a large food processor. Add pecans, goat cheese, egg white, thyme, salt and pepper. Pulse until well blended but still a little coarse. Scrape into a large bowl. With wet hands, form the mixture into six 3-inch patties, about ½ cup each. Heat the remaining 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle registers at least 160F, 10- 15 minutes

6 servings, 250 calories each. 7 grams protein, 3 grams fiber, 14 grams fat (3 sat, 7 mono), 7 mg cholesterol, 250 mg potassium