Healthy Vegetarian Rice Recipes

This easy pumpkin risotto with goat cheese uses sweet and earthy canned pumpkin as a flavor base and creamy goat cheese to add creaminess and tang. Toasted pumpkin seeds add texture and nutty notes. Parsley adds mild fresh flavor, but any chopped fresh herb would work just as well.

Black sticky rice, a delicious whole-grain alternative to white rice, is purplish black in color and has a chewy texture. This recipe gives you a simple method for how to make black sticky rice. Look for it in natural-foods stores in the bulk department or with other whole-grain rice.

With a handful of shortcut ingredients from your local specialty grocery store, you can prepare an entire week's worth of high-fiber meals in about 15 minutes. Look for precooked wild rice packets to cut down on prep time. Plus, wild rice is a good source of fiber and each pouch of cooked rice heats in 3 minutes. Topping these bowls with prebaked tofu also cuts down on the time it takes to make this quick meal-prep lunch.

Our more sophisticated version of crunchy party mix gets its irresistible, rich taste from olive oil and a bit of Parmesan cheese rather than the better part of a stick of butter, or worse, margarine. With two-thirds less fat (none of it saturated) you can forget about that other stuff.

Serve this pretty, pesto-flavored risotto alongside roasted chicken or pork roast or serve with a big salad for a light dinner. We add a splash of wine along with each addition of broth to give the dish a more pronounced wine flavor. If you'd prefer the wine to be more subtle, add the entire cup at the end of Step 3 and cook, stirring, until the liquid is gone, then begin adding the broth. You can substitute more broth in place of the wine.

The key to nutty and flavorful Mexican rice is cooking the rice first in oil until it is nicely golden.

You can vary the filling by substituting robust mustard greens or collards, or milder greens, such as spinach, escarole or Swiss chard. (Cook the greens until just tender in Step 2.)

A simple dressing of sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and paprika flavors this rice and lentil salad. It's a great way to use up leftovers.

Biryanis are rice-based casseroles that combine a saucy meat, vegetable or legume curry with basmati rice, whole spices, nuts and raisins. This particular dish is a nutritional powerhouse, thanks to the mustard greens and chickpeas. Look for the specialty spices--cardamom pods, saffron and garam masala--in the spice section of well-stocked supermarkets or online at penzeys.com.

In this healthy sweet potato hash, a mix of sweet potatoes, broccoli and wild rice provides a savory base for a fried egg.

This chard and spinach soup gets complex flavor from slowly cooked onions and lemon juice, while a sprinkle of rice gives it body and a velvety texture. Serve with a swirl of fruity, fragrant extra-virgin olive oil for richness.

The secret to the maxed-out flavor of this coconut brown rice dish? Coconut in three forms—milk, oil and shredded.

This quick 3-ingredient dinner takes advantage of foods you can keep stocked in your fridge and pantry for a fast, healthy meal the whole family will love. Want to kick it up a notch? Use a frozen vegetable blend that has added seasoning for extra flavor (just watch the sodium).

Nothing could be easier than this light version of fried rice. We've used instant brown rice, but if you have leftover cold rice or can pick some up at a Chinese restaurant on the way home, use that instead and skip Step 1.

This rice, spinach and Cheddar pie is a cinch to prepare--especially if you have leftover cooked rice. If you don't, follow package directions for 4 servings to get about 3 cups cooked rice. Serve with steamed artichokes with light mayo mixed with lemon for dipping.

Jackfruit, a tropical fruit with a dense, chewy texture, is a blank canvas that takes on flavors well. In these vegan burrito bowls, the jackfruit is simmered in a warm and spicy chile sauce that's so good you'll never know you're eating a plant-based protein instead of pork or beef.

For this sustainable vegan sushi, we swapped out tuna for tomato that gets a savory seafood flavor from seaweed, tamari and other umami-rich ingredients. The tomato "tuna" tops sushi rice and is finished with a dollop of spicy vegan mayo for nigiri that will delight any sushi lover.

Save money and sodium when you make a batch of homemade frozen burritos. Mashing the beans and mixing them with tomatoes, cheese and jalapeños before filling the healthy burritos means you get all the ingredients in each bite. Serve with your favorite toppings--we like sour cream, salsa and hot sauce.

This whole-grain wild rice and quinoa salad recipe is perfect for toting to summer potlucks. It features sweet cherries, crunchy celery, nutty aged goat cheese and toasted pecans. If you can find red quinoa, it's particularly pretty.

Use up leftover rice and make it into something delicious with this healthy Indian recipe. Because cooked rice refrigerated overnight dries out a little, it's better suited to absorb all the flavors in this dish without getting sticky or mushy. In a pinch, use frozen or shelf-stable precooked basmati rice, available in many stores. Urad dal and roasted chana dal add texture and authenticity to the rice--look for both types of dal in Indian markets or online.

You won't miss the meat in this healthy jambalaya recipe. Vegan smoked sausage takes its place while the classic "trinity" of vegetables--onion, red bell pepper and celery--get a kick from jalapeño peppers. And everything is cooked in one skillet, which means cleanup is a breeze!

This flavorful vegan dinner is a veggie version of the Louisiana classic. It's chock-full of butternut squash, tomatoes, poblano peppers and okra, to name just a few. This vegetarian gumbo is a quick dinner packed with flavor and spice that's done in only 30 minutes. To make it a meal, serve it with cornbread drizzled with olive oil.

Mushrooms add earthiness and umami flavor in this creamy, one-pot soup recipe. This vegetarian soup will thicken as it sits, so be mindful that the consistency may change when you're done cooking.

Packed with vegetables, this creamy soup comes together easily for a warming meal. Wild rice adds a boost of protein and fiber, but you could substitute another whole grain like brown rice or barley, if you prefer.