Here’s a delicious dish that will warm you and yours from the inside out on a frigid winter day.

Brown Rice with Green Peas

1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 pounds fresh peas, shelled (about 2 cups) or 1 package (10 oz.) frozen peas, thawed
1/3 cup homemade chicken stock or canned broth
1/3 cup Natural Nut Sour Cream (recipe below)
3 ½ cups cooked brown rice, heated
1 tsp chopped fresh chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a medium-sized baking dish.

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and cook for one minute. Then stir in the peas and cook covered until just tender—about five minutes for fresh peas and four minutes if you’re using frozen ones.

Place half the pea mixture in the food processor, then add the sour cream and chicken stock. Process the ingredients until they are fine in texture. Return the puree to the saucepan and add the remaining pea mixture, rice, salt and pepper. Transfer the casserole to the prepared baking dish and bake it—loosely covered—for 14 minutes. Sprinkle the casserole with chives before serving. Serve it hot from the oven as a side dish or as the main course.

Natural Nut Sour Cream

1 ½ cups fresh cashews
¾ cup fresh sunflower seeds
2 ¼ cups filtered water

Place the cashews, sunflower seeds and water in a blender and blend well. Then pour the creamy mixture into a glass jar and cover it with a cotton cloth. Allow your cream to stand (ferment) at room temperature for one to three hours. Taste it occasionally and as soon as it tastes slightly sour, refrigerate it.

The sour cream keeps well in the refrigerator for up to two days.