Brown rice onigiri with spinach, edamame, and sesame recipe

A Japanese bento box staple, traditional onigiri are adorable little bundles of white sushi rice stuffed with morsels of fish, pickled plums, sea vegetables, or other ingredients. To rework these snacks so they’d pack more of a nutritional punch, we first swapped out white rice for short-grain brown rice. Since brown rice is less sticky than white, we skipped the standard rinsing to preserve as much starch as possible. Our next change was more dramatic: Instead of stuffing tidbits of spinach and edamame filling into balls of rice, we pulsed them up with the rice in the food processor. This enabled us to incorporate far more filling into each onigiri (it also made our job simpler). Slightly processing the rice released more starch, making the mixture easier to shape. We scooped out portions of the rice mixture and, with lightly moistened hands, pressed each into a petite disk, which we found less delicate than the traditional ball shape. We rolled the edges in toasted sesame seeds, which added a crunchy, nutty contrast to the rice. A simple soy dipping sauce made a tasty accompaniment.