Sweet Potato & Chickpea Brown Rice Baked Risotto

I was tempted to add 'Moroccan' to the title however it was already long enough and I don't really know a lot about Moroccan flavours but I think it might be close.  Regardless, it is and easy tasty one pot dish full of veggie goodness.

Ingredients

• Brown rice (medium grain works better than long or basmati)
• Sweet potato
• Chickpeas (tinned or re-hydrated)
• Celery (or onions if preferred)
• Greens (I use zucchini or beans or both)
• Stock (I usually uses Massel 7's chicken flavoured)
• Garlic
• Paprika (I usually used a lot of paprika including some smoked)
• Cumin
• Rosemary
• Coriander seeds
• Turmeric

Method

1.  Pre-heat the oven 180 degrees C
2.  Fry up the celery in a stove and oven safe pot with some oil
3. Add rice and garlic and continue frying for about 1-2 minutes
4. Add crumbled stock cubes, chopped sweet potato and pre-boiled water
• The quantity of water can be hard to judge but about twice as much as you have rice
5. Add herbs and spices
6. Bring to boil, put on the lid and place in the oven
7. After 20 minutes add chickpeas and greens.  Add water if required
8. Cook for a further 20 minutes in the oven
9. Serve on a bed of baby spinach and top with balsamic vinegar

Options and variations

• Add/substitute pumpkin to/for sweet potato
• Use beef flavoured stock for something different
• Add a tin of tomatoes and lessen the water a little

Massel 7’s no longer fructose friendly

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Update (25/3/2014): Chicken stock onion and garlic free
I'm pretty sure this happened over a year ago but I thought I should still report it here.  The chicken stock is specifically lists 'Contains not onion or garlic'.  
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Update (14/7/2011): Massel to redevelop a 7's Fructose Friendly Formula
I just got an email from Mark at Massel to say:

"We have had many emails from people such as yourself and have now 'heard the call'. To this end I am happy to report that our R&D department is now working on an onion free version to cater for the Fructose Malabsorbtion community."

This is great news! Thanks to everyone that contacted Massel to request the change, and thanks to Massel for their quick action!
In the meantime continue checking your packets as I suspect it will take some time for the new formula to hit the shelves and I'll keep you informed with updates as soon as I know.
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I recently heard that Massel now puts onion in their "7's" stock.  Beware!  The onion (and garlic) is clearly listed in the ingredients but the rest of the packaging is the same so be sure to check.
As far as I know this was the only fructose friendly stock you could buy, not only that but it was also gluten free, vegan, cheap and tasted good.  For me it was the perfect stock to use when cooking for a variety of different dietary needs.  I have no idea why they changed it but there are a lot of people that would like it changed back.  If you are one of them then please contact Massel and let them know you liked it the way it was, without the onion.
Also if you know where to find some of the old formula for sale somewhere then let us know in the comments!

Massel 7’s fructose friendly stock

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Update (14/7/2011): Massel to redevelop a 7's Fructose Friendly Formula
I just got an email from Mark at Massel to say:

"We have had many emails from people such as yourself and have now 'heard the call'. To this end I am happy to report that our R&D department is now working on an onion free version to cater for the Fructose Malabsorbtion community."

This is great news! Thanks to everyone that contacted Massel to request the change, and thanks to Massel for their quick action!
In the meantime continue checking your packets as I suspect it will take some time for the new formula to hit the shelves and I'll keep you informed with updates as soon as I know.
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Update (12/7/2011): WARNING.  Massel 7's stock now has ONION in it! The onion (and garlic) is clearly listed in the ingredients but the rest of the packaging is the same so be sure to check.  You may get lucky and find some made with the old onion free formula.  To the best of my knowledge this was the only fructose friendly stock on the market so it might be worth sending an email to Massel to request they change it back.
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To all those who can't eat fructose and missing out on yummy risottos and soups, then Massel 7’s stock is for you! (Thanks to my sister who put me onto this)

I had assumed that this was a specialty item, possibly not even made any more after speaking to a friend who couldn't find, checking my supermarket, and not finding it on Massel's web site. That was till my sister left a comment that said "I found it in Coles Mitcham last week . . . " (or something like that).

So on my next supermarket trip to Coles on Glenferrie Rd (Hawthorn), guess what I found . . .

They seem to come in chicken and beef stock cubes with very little advertising or marketing buzz words on the packet. They are both gluten free and vegan according to the ingredients it does not specify where the 'natural flavours' actually come from. It does not indicate it is fructose free however, the Massel's normal stock cubes have almost identical ingredients BUT they individually list the 'dehydrated vegetables' they contain which includes onion.

• Massel 7's chicken stock: Marine salt,rice flour, vegetable oil, sugar, natural flavors, yeast extracts, vegetable protein extract(soy derived), disodium inosinate and guanylate, herb extract
• Massel Chicken stock: Marine salt, rice flour, hydrogenated vegetable oil, sugar, yeast extract, vegetable flavours, vegetable protein extract (wheat derived), dehydrated vegetables (onion, celery, parsley).

I did find them listed on the Allergy Block web site as; Gluten free, Egg free, Nut free, Dairy free, Low fat, Vegan, Vegetarian, Halal.

So to the best of my knowledge they are 'fructose friendly' but I'd be interested to find some more concrete evidence on this. Drop me a comment if you can help!