Wow! It’s been awhile since my last post, which was my game plan for French Restaurant Week in June. There are officially 99 days left in 2024! I’ve been cooking a lot and replicating recipes using techniques rather than ingredients because I had to work with what I had. Over the summer, two months ago, I came home early enough to utilize the ingredients that are in the refrigerator before they went bad. After surveying the content at that time, I had leftover vegan cream cheese, spinach and unopened mushrooms that needed to be cooked or it would have been a waste. Therefore, after my child went to bed, I did a basic search on dishes containing cream cheese, mushrooms and spinach. The first thing that popped up on my search engine was the recipe from RiceSelect. After reviewing this recipe, I discovered I had all the ingredients: cooked rice, walnuts, butter, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. I gathered up what I had and here is what I had to work with:

See these ingredients I realized that I have a healthy comforting vegetarian dish in the works.

Butter from grass fed cows have good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, chromium, copper, iodine, manganese, and zinc. For this recipe I used Vital Farms Unsalted Butter, has been labeled as on the best butters according to taste tests from Serious Eats and and Healthline. Personally I like using grass fed unsalted butter because it makes dishes taste a little richer while consuming the fat soluble vitamins essential for bone health. For this dish, I melted less than 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

Then after the butter is melted, I added the mushrooms and let it cook for approximately 4 minutes.

One cup of mushrooms contain multiple cancer fighting antioxidants such as “polyphenols, polysaccharides, ergothioneine, glutathione, selenium, and vitamin C”, These antioxidants fight off oxidative stress, and prevent tumors. The presence of polysaccharides in mushrooms help regular blood sugar and insulin production. Mushrooms also contain a specific type of polysaccharide called beta-glucans. Beta-glucans has been shown to activate macrophages and natural killer cells to stimulate the immune system, which will inhibit further tumor growth, reduce proliferation and metastasis. In addition to the prevention of tumor production, beta-glucans in its soluble form is capable of forming a “gel on the mucosal surface of the bowel”, which will reduce cholesterol levels. The presence of glutathione and ergothioneine in white mushrooms display their respective roles in getting rid of potentially harmful substances and keeping the DNA safe from oxidative damage. Ergothioneine acts as a bioactive agent to prevent plaque development, which reduces the risk of early cardiovascular disease. The presence of Vitamin C and selenium also adds another layer of anticancer properties by respectively blocking specific enzymes responsible for spreading cancer and prevent cancer development. Finally, white button mushrooms have prebiotics, which is beneficial for intestinal health and gut health.

After the mushrooms are cooked, add the vegan cream cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted and reduce the heat temperature to medium-low.

Vegan Cream Cheese

Add cooked brown rice (leftover brown rice – a day old), stir to blend and heat with the mushroom cream cheese mixture (3-4 minutes).

Brown rice has been advertised and promoted as a healthy carbohydrate ingredient because it is considered a whole grain. Four years ago, a three prospective cohort study covering self-reporting, follow-up questionnaire with supplemental questionnaires covering a period of 33 years (1984-2017) was published. The results from this cohort study showed that higher consumption of whole grains, which includes brown rice was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes among the “158,259 women and 36,525 men who did not have type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline”. However, in 2023, there was an article that was published revealing that there is more arsenic found in brown rice versus white rice. The article addressed that arsenic is considered an environmental pollutant that has contributed to higher risk of arsenic-induced metabolic syndrome whose symptoms include “a large waistline, high blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, high triglyceride level, and low HDL cholesterol”. These symptoms often lead to cardiovascular disease in the long term. Ultimately, based on these two studies, more studies and research need to be completed to validate the health benefits of brown rice. In the meantime, we should limit food and products containing arsenic due to more consistent findings.

Add spinach to the rice mixture and stir until wilted.

Spinach is one of my favorite vegetable because of its versatility but more importantly this vegetable contains a large amount of health benefits. I have shared recipes in past blog posts containing spinach:

• Sauteed Black Eyed Peas and Spinach (2017)
• Two Ingredient Sauteed Spinach and Garlic (2017)

Recent research reveals another another component that is found in spinach called Betaine. Betaine has been known to help regulate homocysteine levels in the blood, which may contribute towards disease prevention such as heart disease, and stroke, Betaine has also been shown to with endurance, reduce fatigue and improve muscle power and strength.

After the spinach is wilted, remove pan from heat and add walnuts. Walnuts usually adds another layer of flavor and texture. They are great for garnishes. I personally like to include them when baking banana bread or incorporating them in a salad. There have been recent research showing that walnuts are beneficial for improving cognition and reducing the risk and/or progression of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. In additions the properties found in walnuts may provide protection against neuroinflammation.

Happy National Rice Month! I hope to continue to blog more successful dishes before the year ends!!

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