Rice with Cabbage and Olives (Italian style)

Today is the last day of the 7 days of blogging marathon. I would never have chosen 'Rice' as my theme if not for my husband. When I did pick this, my mind was racing as to what all can be made. Don't be surprised. I already have quite a few rice dishes in my recipe list. Even when I am from a rice eating region and know quite a few rice recipes,  I wanted every dish to be a new experiment or should I say a learning experience for myself and something new to others.
Out of these '7 days of rice', 'Kidney Beans Rice' is the only one I had already made in my life. All others were experiments and I should say every one of them turned out to be great including this one. If you have missed on all those posts, here they are.

Tomatillo Rice, Mango Rice Pudding, Coconut Pineapple Rice, Chinese Style Peanut and Sesame Rice, and Cashews, Poppy Seeds Rice pudding.

Inspiration to this dish came from one of Mario Batali's show on cooking channel. He made a side dish (can't even say the name) with broccoli rabe. He said we can use anything that falls in the same family for this and I choose Cabbage. When he was done sauteing the broccoli rabe in olive oil (with garlic in it), he added olives, red chilli flakes, salt and said this can be converted into a pasta dish by adding cooked pasta. If you can make something with rice, you can make that with pasta and vice versa. I choose rice. I added some thyme to enhance the flavor and I added sundried tomatoes since I love them. You can omit these two and still make this rice.

One year back - French Bread,  Rye Bread
Ingredients:
Cooked rice - 1 1/2 cups
Olive oil - 2 TBSP
Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 4 cloves peeled but kept whole
Olives - 5 - 6 pitted and chopped coarsely (I used kalamata)
Sundried tomatoes - 4 drained and chopped roughly (optional)
Cabbage - coarsely shredded 1 cup
Thyme - 1 tsp fresh or 1/2 tsp dried
Salt - to taste

Method:
In a skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic and let it infuse oil for a minute. Add cabbage and stir. Keep moving the cabbage occasionally to prevent burning. Add chilli pepper flakes and mix. Don't add salt yet. When the cabbage is almost cooked add olives, sundried tomatoes if using. Mix well. Let it cook for couple of minutes. Add salt, cooked and cooled rice, thyme and mix well. Keep on low heat for 3 - 4 minutes. Check for salt and adjust if necessary. Serve warm.

Notes:
Sundried tomato addition was a mixed feeling. They brought in lot of flavor but at the same time their chewiness probably is not enjoyable by everyone. I liked it though. You could toss the whole garlic out. I kept them in for those who love garlic. I don't care to eat the whole clove of garlic.

Want to see what others are up to today; today being the last day of this marathon?
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Enjoy.