Frozen rice is a quick and healthy MVP

This recipe showcases two tricks I rely on for flavorful, healthful weeknight meals. One is a new favorite convenience food, and the other a simple cooking technique with a big payoff.

The convenience food is a bag of frozen brown rice, which has become a staple in my kitchen since I discovered it about a year ago. It gets the whole grain on the table fast, in whatever quantity needed, with just a few minutes of reheating either in the microwave or on the stove. Its ingredient list is simply “cooked brown rice,” and it not only offers comparable nutrition to freshly cooked rice but also has an extra health advantage. When rice (or any grain, or potatoes) is cooled after cooking, some of its starch turns to resistant starch, a type that slows digestion and acts more like fiber in the body, thus tempering the grain’s impact on blood sugar.

Sure, it’s easy enough and cheaper to cook up a fresh batch of rice, and freeze it yourself, but if you are pressed for time, the packaged option is a big win.

The technique I lean on for fast, lip-smacking flavor is toasting garlic. It takes a few minutes longer than simply sautéing it, but the payoff is big in both taste and texture. It involves heating sliced garlic slowly in oil over low heat, until golden, then removing it from the oil and letting it cool. As the garlic slices cool, they crisp up to become a crunchy, savory garnish, while the oil they are cooked in is infused with a deep, mellow garlic flavor. Cook any vegetable in that oil — broccoli, kale, spinach — season with salt and pepper, and top with the garlic “chips” for a no-brainer, delightful side dish.

In this recipe, ground turkey is browned in that toasted garlic oil, with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, diced tomatoes, kale leaves (you could sub any green leafy you like) and crushed red pepper flakes. That fragrant mixture is then spooned over the hot brown rice, which has been tossed with a little of the garlic oil, too.

Topped with those crispy bits of toasted garlic, slices of buttery avocado, and a wedge of lemon, you have an enticing rice bowl you can count on to nourish you on a busy day.