Recipe #40: Tomato and Basil Brown Rice

In the last year I have been having pretty bad back pain on my left side. In the last couple of months or so the pain has really started to affect the left side of my neck as well. It has been so painful that I have been sleeping without a pillow! This morning I woke up to a tremendous cramp that started in my back and continued to swell all along the left side of my neck. The swelling and cramping were so intense that I could not lift my head off of the pillow on my own. It was so frightening that Ian and I both had to call off of work and go to the Emergency Room. (Great morning, huh?)

I was diagnosed with Torticollis, which is luckily nothing too serious, but apparently it is a direct result of sleeping with a strained neck. It is a series of painful muscle spasms in your neck that will hopefully go away in a couple of days. Although, I have to say, I am feeling apprehensive with this diagnosis considering the level of pain I was experiencing and the length of time I have dealt with these symptoms. The drugs they administered were basically a very low dosage of generic Valium. (Personally, I don't feel a bit of difference from what they prescribed so I might be speaking to the doctor again tomorrow.)

Well anyhow, I am still pretty much immobile from the constant pain so my day was spent in bed watching television. And trust me, the Food Network is about as exciting as it gets on a Tuesday afternoon. Luckily, Ina Garten was on television for a couple of hours and I was able to enjoy that. I decided to make this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/brown-rice-tomatoes-and-basil-recipe/index.html. However, because Ian was off running errands I could not get up to eat anything. I have felt like Lorelai Gilmore all day today -- bound to the couch from a "normal back spasm". Now that Ian is back home he has pretty much become the character, Suki. But instead of bringing me burritos he ventured to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for this easier recipe I saw on The Barefoot Contessa this afternoon.

Ingredients:

* 1 bag of Instant Brown Rice
* 1 tsp of Sea Salt
* 1/4 cup of Rice Wine Vinager
* 2 tsp of Sugar
* 1 Tbsp of Extra Virigin Olive Oil
* 1/4 tsp of Black Pepper
* 4 Roma Tomatoes
* 1 cup of chopped Basil Leaves


Cooking Directions:

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the bag of Brown Rice and cook for 10 minutes.

Once the rice is cooked drain the water and be careful when opening the bag since it will be fluffy but very hot.

Place the rice in a medium serving bowl.

In a separate small mixing bowl add the rice wine vinager, one teaspoon of sea salt, the sugar, olive oil, and the black pepper. Whisk together and pour over the top of the cooked brown rice.

On a cutting board dice the roma tomatoes. Add these and the chopped basil leaves to the rice as well.

Serve hot or cold.