Review - Marxfoods.com Peppers And Rice

I've dropped many hints that this post was coming - Justin from Marxfoods.com sent us a wonderful array to review! This is the same company that I did a review for those amazing environmental friendly dishes - they also have a large array of gourmet foods.

I am not only going to tell you about the actual products, but I'm going to include links to recipes for you to try them out yourselves!







First we had the Chinese Black Rice: Black rice is also known as Forbidden rice, eaten only by the Emperor - so needless to say, I felt like royalty eating it! If you enjoy brown rice, you will absolutely LOVE and I mean LOVE black rice!

To cook it up is easy as pie: 1 c. rice, 2 c. unsalted water in your pot, brought to a boil, simmer until it's done. Due to this grain not being the same as white or brown rice (similar though), I found it cooked easy and quickly, but like with all recipes, you will have to judge the cooking time accordingly.

Remember I made a post the other day about how to cook rice? Well, forget about it with this rice. I didn't use my rice cooker, I used my pot on the burner and I only added the rice and water...no sauteing, no salting, nothing...it had a unique smell as it cooked; not sure how to explain it, but it was a mixture of good and what is that? But the outcome is SO good! The flavor is nutty and the grain is slightly chewy. I served black rice with sliced avocado, steak and buttered bread. It was simple and seriously delicious.

Honey Bear said he enjoyed it more then brown rice and I have to agree. It was great eating alone or taking a fork full with steak or avocado on it, it was all good!

Another way I am going to enjoy this rice is:

Coconut Black Rice Pudding . I need to make a grocery store run, but the reviews for it are great, and after tasting this Chinese Black (Forbidden) Rice with our meal, I just know that it will make an amazing Rice pudding!!

Next we had Himalayan Red Rice. The taste and texture of this rice is great for pilaf due to it's wonderful nutty taste. This red rice is a lovely addition to salads that call for rice for the flavor AND color. It's great with fish, chicken and/or vegetables - light meats, nothing heavy as it will overwhelm the wonderful taste of the rice. I served it next to homemade refried beans and cheese. I cook a lot of Latin foods and instead of the usual white rice, this was real good! This time, I used my rice cooker. I was worried because it needs longer cooking time, but I did my usual 1c rice to 2 c. water and 1/2 tsp salt. I turned off the cooker and let it 'steam' while I made the rest of our meal and it turned out PERFECT.

For an attractive dish, try combining red rice and white rice. The combined textures are also a treat for the palate. Just remember that the two kinds of rice have separate cooking times, so you'll want to cook them separately and then combine them.

After reading these ingredients, this recipe for Himalayan Rice Pilaf would be a perfect use for this wonderful Himalayan Red Rice!

I highly recommend both of these delicious rices - their health benefits are as big of a selling point with me as their incredible tastes! Both are full of flavor and their color is so attractive. I also recommend that you never cook either of these rices with anything else because they will change the color of what ever you're cooking with them. But as I stated earlier, wouldn't it be so cool to go to a party with a combo of red or black rice tossed with white rice. How often do you see something like that at a gathering? Plus, you'll surprise the other guests with their flavors...both of these I will be buying as often as possible.

Now we move on to peppers. Do you like peppers? I sure do...Their health benefits and intense flavors are my two top reasons for buying them.

We have three different peppers:






Dried De Arbol Peppers







Dried Aji Panca Peppers





Dried Aji Amarillo Peppers




Now, with peppers, what is hot or mild to me is not going to be the same degree with you. I'm going to make these brief and ask you to review the links to the individual peppers to see which pepper is best to your liking.

The De Arbol peppers are my favorite. These are hot, I won't kid you about this. Have you ever ordered lo mein from your local Chinese food place? It's mild, right? It is to me, but I love lo mein. I order it extra spicy - and of course, they look at me. What the finished product comes back is, they have thrown 3-4 small de arbol peppers into it and trust me when I say, it's hot, but oh so good! These peppers are great to be finely chopped up in homemade tacos if you like to make your own fresh, natural tacos. (I take green peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper, and enough hot peppers to our liking. Simmer it until the natural waters almost evaporate, stir in cooked meat of your choice and serve-delicious!)

Dried Aji Panca Peppers - these are great. If you like the flavor and heat index (mild) of poblano peppers, you'll like these - ALOT!

Dried Aji Amarillo Peppers - these peppers have a medium heat index in my opinion. What makes them great is that you can use them reconstituted or dried (grind and store). I cook Dominican food which isn't spicy, but my best friend is from Mexico and when I tasted these peppers, it brought back fond memories of eating Mexican food that was so hot, but so good....

If you ever wanted to try something different, or wanted to try a new international recipe and wasn't sure where to start - let me recommend you stopping off at Marxfood.com . The plethora of goodies they have there is amazing! They also simplify the description of each of their products so that you know exactly what you're buying - leaving out the guess work!

I am so thankful to Justin for allowing us the opportunity to review these products - they're worth their weight in gold - seriously delicious.

If I haven't sold you yet on checking out these products, visit Marxfood.com for yourself. There, you will find a giveaway for 2 lbs of the First Morels of the Season, their own blog which is packed with so much helpfull information, their newsletter which keeps you posted of sales and upcoming events, disposable dishes - perfect for parties or picnics and their very own recipes using their own ingredients!

See my review of their disposable dishes for further links around their site - and know one real important fact about Marxfood.com: the personal, one - on - one communication with them is fantastic! They care, and because they do, I know you will always be satisfied with any and all purchases you make.

Thank you for reading and considering this review, I know you'll find yourself as pleased with Marxfood.com as I am.