Adventures in Cooking - Almond Rice Pilaf
One of my dinner ideas - for nights I'm at home and have time to cook - is to have a steamed or sauted veggie. Served along side of that would a rice or potato dish. Since I don't always want just plain rice or even to cook the rice - I thought that if I found a few rice recipes and made them up ahead of time and froze them in serving sizes, that then all I'd have to do is cook my veggie and heat up the rice. And waalaa - dinner.
Tonight's recipe is one that I think would make a perfect compliment to the various veggies I like to steam and saute. Tonight I sauted up some spinach (first get the pan really hot with 1 - 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Throw in either grated or finely minced garlic and ginger to taste - immediately toss in your spinach and then about a 1/4 cup of either orange, tangerine, or tangelo juice. Toss and remove from heat when fully wilted but not destroyed.) and made up a glass of fresh squeezed tangelo juice to wash it all down.
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked instant rice
In a saucepan, saute the onion and almonds in the butter until the onions are tender and the almonds are lightly brown. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and cover. Remove from heat and let stand 5 - 8 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
FIRST
It would probably be well worth your time to actually buy slivered almonds. I didn't, and basically ended up with chopped and bludgeoned almonds. I'm sure it doesn't affect the taste - but texture might be a little chunkier than delicate palates like.
SECOND
I veganized this by using margarine and no-chicken broth. I'm not sure how they make no-chicken broth, but it gives foods that slightly fatty taste without the greasiness.
THIRD
Who the hell uses instant rice? I don't think I've cooked with that since I left home. I used one cup of basmati rice instead. After the broth/onions/almonds come to a boil - add the rice and bring back to a boil for about a minute. Cover and turn heat down to extremely low. Walk away for 10 - 12 minutes. Come back and stir. If all the liquid is gone and stuff is sticking to the bottom - all is good. Replace cover and remove from heat. Walk away for 5-6 minutes. (this would be a good time to saute your spinach) Fluff with fork and serve.
VERDICT?
Yummmmm!!!
Tonight's recipe is one that I think would make a perfect compliment to the various veggies I like to steam and saute. Tonight I sauted up some spinach (first get the pan really hot with 1 - 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Throw in either grated or finely minced garlic and ginger to taste - immediately toss in your spinach and then about a 1/4 cup of either orange, tangerine, or tangelo juice. Toss and remove from heat when fully wilted but not destroyed.) and made up a glass of fresh squeezed tangelo juice to wash it all down.
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked instant rice
In a saucepan, saute the onion and almonds in the butter until the onions are tender and the almonds are lightly brown. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and cover. Remove from heat and let stand 5 - 8 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
FIRST
It would probably be well worth your time to actually buy slivered almonds. I didn't, and basically ended up with chopped and bludgeoned almonds. I'm sure it doesn't affect the taste - but texture might be a little chunkier than delicate palates like.
SECOND
I veganized this by using margarine and no-chicken broth. I'm not sure how they make no-chicken broth, but it gives foods that slightly fatty taste without the greasiness.
THIRD
Who the hell uses instant rice? I don't think I've cooked with that since I left home. I used one cup of basmati rice instead. After the broth/onions/almonds come to a boil - add the rice and bring back to a boil for about a minute. Cover and turn heat down to extremely low. Walk away for 10 - 12 minutes. Come back and stir. If all the liquid is gone and stuff is sticking to the bottom - all is good. Replace cover and remove from heat. Walk away for 5-6 minutes. (this would be a good time to saute your spinach) Fluff with fork and serve.
VERDICT?
Yummmmm!!!