Don't forget the rice!

I'm not a fan of rice on its own, but I am a huge fan of adding rice to a meal. I buy the boil-in-bag variety and add it to soups, stews, just about anything. Rice is inexpensive and makes a tasty bed for chicken and fish fillets as well as bulking up soups and stews.

Tonight I heated a can of black bean and vegetable soup, added some rice and slice of wheat bread, and it made a great meal. And, I have leftovers!

I prepare my rice as follows: Add one boil-in-bag of rice to 4 cups of boiling water and cook for about 12 minutes. While it's cooking I add a tablespoon of olive oil and some spices (black pepper, garlic, paprika, and a few drops of tabasco sauce).

Someone told me that jasmine rice is the best, I'll have to add it to my shopping list.

What are your ideas for preparing rice?

Rice was such a staple for me growing up.

My favorite ways to have rice are djon djon rice





Or a nice heaping plate of arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), made with plenty of garlic and sofrito






(I also shared my recipe for rice w/red beans on the forum previously -- shameless plug below)
http://christianchat.com/heavenly-recipes/89341-rice-red-beans.html

Sounds good! And, I'll be trying your rice and red beans recipe a.s.a.p. Thank you for that

Anytime - it's not the cajuny-style red beans and rice with the sausage and tomato base but i like it for what it is.

Oh, and you mentioned the jasmine rice - definitely worth buying, it's so fragrant and has a lovely flavor.

Yeah, I hear a lot about that regarding jasmine rice. I'll have to buy some if I can find it. It sounds like I need to invest in a good rice cooker.

oh, a regular pot makes rice just fine too....i would give it a few tries that way before shelling out $$ for a cooker.

Good advice, but clearly you have never seen me operate in a kitchen. lol! Did I mention that I'm good at making charcoal?

I have a couple of rice dishes I like, one I got from my sister who dated a man from Iran, and she fell in love with his persian rice, and then she introduced it to us, and we would make her make it for us when she come to visit. Her way of doing it is a little more complex then this, but will do.

Its a combination of basmati rice and fried potatos

Would look similar to this finished



Instead of using tumeric (like in the video) she (and we) prefer to use persian saffron. Other then that the recipe seems identical so I figured I would post it.


[video=youtube;xD-RtP-JiFE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=85114404&v=xD-RtP-JiFE&x-yt-ts=1422579428  [/video]

Its really good, takes a couple of times to get it down (at least it did for me) but its addicting, which is why I dont make it often.

Here is another that is light and I like although I am typically not too crazy about cilantro, I liked this though

The Rice Cooker: Cilantro Lime Basmati Rice

Ingredients

1 cup white basmati rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
2 teaspoons butter
1 large or 2 small limes, juiced
Zest of 1 lime
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Place the rice in the rice bowl. Add the butter, lime juice and zest, water, and salt; swirl just to combine. Close the cover and set for the Regular cycle.

2. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice stand and steam for 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. Serve hot.

Serves 3-4

ISeeYou, some good recipes there, will add them to my recipe list. I don't think I've ever tried cilantro, will have to see how that comes out. Thanks!

If you ever try them let me know how it goes Ardchoille, I collect every kind of recipe for a measure of diversity. I had a couple more to post. Im glad for this thread so I can come here and get more rice ideas lol

Heres another version called Jeweled rice

[video=youtube;T1VS8rLE-ms]https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=85114404&v=T1VS8rLE-ms&x-yt-ts=1422579428[/video]

Wowsers, some people have a knack for taking something as plain as rice and making a great meal out of it! I hope to obtain this skill someday

Thanks again!

Here is street egg biryani, theres chicken biryani, various recipes but this guy is pretty good

[video=youtube;cxxeOphLuqQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxxeOphLuqQ[/video]

This one I havent tried, this one is one I want to try, I just havent gotten to it, but all the biryanis have decent reviews, the chicken especially, and the restaurant style verses the street vender style, the street one is just easier then the other.

Im telling ya! And I seek these people out too lol! Basmati rice is a staple here, my husband isnt too diverse, potato or rice, so I must get creative.

Your welcome God bless you

I always use chicken broth to flavor my rice, instead of water..it tastes much better..I like adding frozen veggies and/or canned meat such as turkey to it, too.. I use garlic salt/powder, dillweed, and onion salt..

Hi ardchoille,

I have been meaning to get back here to post this other rice recipe to you, it existed in my head since I was a kid and I just had to write it down (which I did specifically for your thread).

I dont have a picture of it though (but its really good)

My dad called this "build a mountain" because it looks like a little mountain on your plate when you are finished adding everything to it.

Build a mountain

Rice (steamed)
Baked chicken breast (pulled apart into small pieces)
Chicken gravy (fresh or jarred)
Sharp white cheddar cheese ( you will have to shred this)
Celery (fresh chopped)
Onions (fresh chopped)
Green pepper (fresh chopped)
Tomatoes (fresh diced)
Peanuts (I prefer salted cocktail)
Chow mein noodles (a bag of those chinese pre cooked crunchy ones)
Pineapple pieces or cruched pineapple (fresh or canned)
Coconut (to sprinkle over mountain top)

Directions (and a little blah, blah, blah...)

I cant tell you the amounts you will need, only that that would depend on how many people you are serving, you will have to judge the amount of chicken and rice for each and how much of the other would be dispersed over the same.

Its base is rice (and just to give you an idea, I add about a 1/2 cup or so of steamed rice to my plate) and then I add a handful of cooked chicken (which have been torn into smaller bite sized pieces) and then a handful of each of the chopped ingredients, along with any of the others.

And I dont really saturate it with gravy or anything, I just add a few spoons over it for flavor because the pineapple (with its juices) also flavors it.

But its a taste thing, do what you like.

I typically add the chicken gravy second to last (as if that matters at all) and then I sprinkle the top with the coconut (for a snow top effect). You shouldnt care about it so much unless you have kids and they care (really) that just makes it more interesting (or fun) for them.

When we were kids visiting my dad this was one of our favorites and it was really good, and I never gave it a thought that it was healthy when we were kids because I was caught up in the whole "build a mountain" game, which I think was done on purpose lol. On a diet I will typically reduce, or forego the cheese or peanuts (or both)

But just bake the chicken breasts (however many you are using) and while they are baking make a batch of steamed rice (I prefer basmati). These two things along with the chicken gravy are the only things that either need to be cooked, baked or heated up. Its pretty simple, most of the other stuff just needs to be chopped while the chicken is being baked.

And all the other stuff I put in various bowls to pick from to build my mountain (and then chow down). The flavors of everything in this mesh really well. You have that salty sweet going on, and its perfect in the summer has that Islandy taste. You can keep most of whats chopped for a day or so in the fridge and pick from it later. Thats what I do.

This is one of my favorites, might seem like a crazy combination but this is not only good (its addicting to me) and healthy.

Welp, thats all I have

God bless you

Cook it from scratch.

Slather it in gravy made from meat drippings.

El arroz con pollo que prepara mi esposa es delicioso.