Patty Cake Rice Cakes

My hometown is surrounded by rice fields. I can remember being amazed when the fields were flooded in the early spring. How could anything grow in so much water? And then, as if by magic, the rice would begin to emerge.

Rice has been a staple in my life from the time I could eat solid food. I grew up eating rice as a cereal, as a pudding for dessert, in soups, with butter, and smothered in gravy. When I would come to the table and see that rice was on the menu, I was a very happy girl. As long as there was rice, I could somehow choke down whatever else was there that I didn't care for. Just to show you how crazy I was, I would carefully move my rice to one side of my plate so that the other items on my plate that I did not like would not "contaminate" my rice. I know, crazy ;)

I still LOVE rice, and I am quite satisfied with a bowl of rice and a wonderful item that I get in Chicago called giardiniera. Here's a recipe for Italian Giardiniera that looks fairly authentic. As much of this stuff as I eat, I need to see about making a batch! Anyway...when I make rice, I always make much more than I can use at one sitting as I want leftovers. An item that I love to make with the leftovers is rice cakes. I love these things!!! I will eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...and all in the same day! 

  

The cakes are super easy to make. Just begin with 2 eggs, whisk them until frothy. 

Add the rice, shredded cheddar cheese, bread crumbs. I stir this mixture together and then add finely chopped spinach, onion, garlic, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.

Combine all of the ingredients, and then measure out 1/4 cup of the mixture and form into round patties. The mixture can be a bit sticky, so I just keep my hands wet with water as I form the patties. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Place patties in the oil and cook for at least 3 minutes without touching. Turn and press lightly to flatten out and cook another 3 minutes, or more to obtain a golden brown.

For breakfast, I serve the patties with poached eggs, and sprinkle them with fresh chopped parsley.

YUM!!!

For lunch, I will place the patties on salad, or I just top them with giardiniera. For dinner, I like to make a mushroom or tomato sauce for the patties. So, they are quite versatile, and delicious anytime of day.

Patty Cake Rice Cakes

ingredients;
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs ( I like bread crumbs with Italian seasoning)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and black pepper to taste
Enough oil to cover the bottom of cooking pan

directions;
Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add rice, cheese, bread crumbs and mix well. Combine onion, garlic spinach, oregano, red pepper flakes and stir into rice mixture. Add salt and black pepper to taste. 

Heat oil in large pan over medium heat, enough to coat the bottom of the pan.
Measure out 1/4 cup of the rice mixture and form into patties. Keeping hands wet will help to keep the rice mixture from sticking to your hands. Place patties in hot oil and brown on each side for at least 3 minutes, until golden brown. Turn patties, press lightly to flatten out and cook on opposite side until golden brown.
Place cooked patties on paper towels.

Leftover uncooked patties can be place on waxed paper and frozen to cook at a later time. 

Patties can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast, top with a poached egg. For lunch, place on top of salad. For dinner, top with a mushroom or tomato sauce.

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I grew up eating plain ol' regular white rice. When I cook rice these days, I typically use brown rice, but I also love red rice, forbidden rice, and wild rice. I just love having the opportunity to try so many wonderful varieties of rice :)

If you give my rice cakes a try, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

 Rhonda