So for years I bought pre-packaged boxes of rice and preservatives to serve with my chicken or fish. Lucky for me, the brand that I liked bumped their prices through the stratosphere! If anyone thinks I'm going to spend damn near $4 on a box of RICE they are sadly mistaken! I was in a panic, rice is a big deal in our house. And for some reason I thought rice pilaf was just out of my league! I'm not sure why, I just did. I mean obviously if they had to mass produce it and put it in boxes it was just way too complicated for regular folks like me! So I began to research and ended up feeling like a dunce! How was I to know that a basic rice pilaf was nothing more than rice, broth, olive oil and salt?!?! I kept it simple the first couple of times, just to be sure I could get the consistency to come out nice, as it turns out Jasmine rice is MUCH better for pilaf than your average white rice. And honestly pilaf has become one of my favorite recipes to mess around with. I come up with something different every time. So I would just like to share the concoction I ended up with last night to accompany a nice baked roughy.
Rice Pilaf with peppers, mushrooms and spinach
About 1 tbsp. of olive oil
1 1/2 c. Jasmine rice
2 1/4 c. broth and/or water (I generally use vegetable broth, especially when making rice to accompany fish)
1 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
Onion (about a half of a small one chopped fine)
Bell peppers (I like orange, yellow and reds, the green is a little harsh for this one)
Mushrooms sliced thin
Fresh spinach chopped
Pour olive oil into a hot pan, add rice and begin to saute. After a minute or so add in the onions and bell peppers, continue to saute. Once the rice starts to brown a little, add the mushrooms and saute until the rice is golden brown. Add the broth or water. Salt and pepper and turn the heat down to simmer. Some people cover theirs, I usually don't. Simmer the rice until it reaches that nice soft consistency, but not sticky and mushy. I do have to add a little more water on occasion if it hasn't reached the desired softness, it won't hurt anything if you need to do so, just add a little at a time. Once you reach the desired consistency, turn off the heat, add in the spinach and fluff it with a fork. It will wilt down nicely and viola, you have a lovely pilaf! I would be willing to bet that slivered almonds or pine nuts would be really nice in this dish. Anyway, once you have the basic four ingredients down, you can play with pilaf and come up with all sorts of things. I curry mine, I sometimes add meat and make it a full meal, golden raisins are nice, dried apricots are amazing, the sky is the limit with rice!
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