Recipes

[house_cat]

@vabreeze

In my opinion, everything is better with sauteed mushrooms!

[GiantsLover]

I have served rice to guests who prefer not to eat rice, but after they taste mine they love it and this is what I put into my various rice dishes....

I either use long grain Uncle Bens white rice or Virgo yellow saffron rice. boiled in home made chicken broth which has been simmering on low along with a whole chicken for about 5 hours.

When I boil the chicken broth and add the rice in I also add in some diced onions,  or scallions, some baby carrots and diced celery, freshly minced sauteed garlic, peas frozen or fresh, sliced sauteed mushrooms either fresh or canned, and some olives, also with diced chicken from the chicken which was simmering in the broth.

I also add 1 teaspoon of Spanish authentic saffron threads which add flavor and really color the water a gorgeous golden hue color.

I also change it up and add  many of the following ingredients:

Cooked rotisserie chicken diced well,.

Boiled chicken shreds..

Raw veal stew pieces.

Raw deboned fish.

Cooked baby meatballs comprised of beef, sausage and veal , with other seasonings and diced onions.

Lastly I also make my own fried rice adding rice to simmering chicken stock, and Chinese or other Asian seasonings, along with a few drops of sesame oil at the end for real added flavor.

I also like to make my homemade Rice a Roni which everyone loves with slivers of almonds and various flavorful seasonings and ingredients.

My rice is never boring, but receives high praise when served in any of the above  variations I use..

[pinkmochi]

@house_cat I'm Japanese, so I love plain rice. I don't know if you have a rice cooker or one of those Wolfgang Puck rice cookers that everyone was buying, but you could make rice pilaf in it. I put rice in the rice cooker, add sliced mushrooms, some super thin broken angel hair pasta (I can't remember the name of the tiny pieces), use chicken broth instead of water for the liquid, and salt and pepper. It's really easy and different than plain rice. 

I made chicken thighs the other night cooked in olive oil and lemon juice with herbs. I loooove the sauce over rice. And gravy and rice is my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. 

I would also find a recipe for cilantro-lime rice like they have at Chipotle. If you don't have a rice cooker, you could also make these in an Instant Pot. Good luck!

[house_cat]

@pinkmochi

Thank you for the yummy ideas.

I don't have a rice cooker, but I have a 2 quart LeCreuset pot that makes perfect rice every time 🍚👌🏽

[rrpell]

Beans and Rice?

Both my husband and I like this Robert Irvine recipe.  I’m into trying to eat less meat and he is....trying.  He likes it when I add a little kielbasa.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and minced

1 large red onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and small diced

2 (1-pound) cans red kidney beans

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon hot sauce

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup white rice

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Saute garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper until tender. Stir in kidney beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer slowly while you cook the rice.
2. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in rice and butter. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Fold rice and beans gently together and transfer to a serving dish. Serve garnished with cilantro.

[ArmoBuyer]

Definitlely use chicken broth instead of water, preferably College Inn. The add-ons can really help, including: fine vermacelli noodles toasted in butter 'til brown in their dry state, then added to simmering rice; chopped nuts; chopped dried cherries, apricots, raisins, added during last 5 minutes, or so they plump up in cooking; favorite vegetables cut into dice, etc etc etc. Critical in rice making is sufficient salt, a blob of butter and letting fully cooked pot of rice sit for +- 15 minutes, covered, then "folding" rice overall, bringing bottom rice to top before serving. PS. I use Uncle Ben's or basmati rice, the later being more difficult to control.

[Free2be]

I was hoping I would find my long lost favorite rice recipe here.  It's been 30 years or more, I only remember sauteeing the dry rice first in a little oil, adding some dry Italian salad dressing seasoning and after those flavors developed, adding broth.  I think onion and ??.  Something about the process made it better than simply tossing it all together.  The recipe was from a newspaper, must have been caught up with the trash. 

I'm glad Mr. house_cat liked the rice casserole.

[blackhole99]

If rice is boring maybe he would like quinoa and faro, both are grains and cook up like rice. Just add some herbs to the cooking water or use some kind of broth or stock to cook it in. Sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese over the top and wha la.

[momtochloe]

@house_cat I don't know if you are still looking for suggestions but I just got this in an email blast this morning and it sounds tasty:

https://www.plainchicken.com/2019/01/au-jus-mushroom-rice.html

[house_cat]

@momtochloe

Thank you!  I pinned that one for the future - it looks delicious.  In the past, I've found Low Sodium Au Jus packets.  I'll put them on my grocery list.