Apple Wild Rice

This is my favorite rice to eat with salmon!

1 c. wild rice
3 c. water
1/2 c dried apple pieces (I buy bulk from Church cannery for food storage and crumble them some)
1 T soy sauce (or liquid aminos; or neither if you don't have it on hand)
1/2 onion, chopped in pieces
1 T oil/butter
salt to taste

1. sautee the onions in oil or butter until translucent
2. add rice, water and apple pieces and bring to boil; simmer 45 minutes (or until rice is fully cooked)
3. remove from heat and if desired, add soy sauce and salt and mix those in well.

I like to let mine sit for a few minutes with the lid on, but that isn't necessary. And it's great just served with a piece of plain salmon (or soy/teriyaki flavored) and a side vegetable like green beans. Also, I love the large chunks of onion it it...that to me makes this. However, you could probably get away with onion powder if you don't have the real onion (I'd say it was a tragedy if you did that--but hey, I'm not in your kitchen).

*I think I got the original idea from some recipe in the Costco magazine, but I changed a few things and added soy sauce. And of course, I love playing around with flavored rices, so....hopefully I will have more fun variations to share later.

Fool-Proof Baked Brown Rice

For those of you who don't own a rice cooker and don't want another random device in your kitchen that you have to fish out of your already over-filled cupboard....or for those of you who don't want to fish out the one you do have.... here's a handy tip for cooking brown rice in your oven.

6 c water
2 c brown rice (or half brown/half white rice and reduce water by 1/2 c)
2 t oil
1 t salt
other seasonings to taste

1. Place all mixed up in 9x13 glass dish and double cover the top with tin foil.
2. Bake at 400 for 1 hour. (or 350 for 11/2 hours)
3. Pull out and fluff. (I leave mine in until dinner is ready if I've only got 10 minutes or so left)

Super easy and you can add onions and garlic or curry powder or cumin or tomato sauce, etc. However you like to cook rice....and it doesn't burn. :) And it's great for leftovers!

Variations
Mexican Rice: add can of tomato sauce and green chiles and onions (you can throw in some full pieces of chicken too if you'd like).

Herbed Rice: add two table spoons butter and various italian herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil), plus garlic and onion.

Creamy Whole Beet Pilaf

1 beet, peeled and quartered
1-2 c beat greens, stems trimmed/shredded

4 c water/broth (up to 7 c. if using brown rice instead)

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, minced

1 c Arborio rice (I rarely use arbirio, but most often brown rice)

salt and pepper to taste

1 T lemon juice (opt.)
2 T butter (opt.)

grated Parmesan cheese  (opt. for top)          

1. Sautee onion in the oil until tender, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the rice; cook and stir another 2 minutes.
3. Mix in the beet and beet green mixture, cooking another minute.
4. Pour in the broth mixture 1 cup at a time, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding each batch, stirring continually. Do this for the amount of time the rice normally takes to cook, but allow the water to absorb until tender--may have to periodically taste for doneness. (I do brown rice and cook it for a whole hour with seven cups of broth/water)
5. Continue stirring until creamy and thick, about 3 minutes more. Add lemon juice, butter and salt if desired. Top with Parmesan cheese if desired. ]

*found this recipe at allrecipes.com and it's a great way to use the whole beet/greens. I tweaked it a little by not adding any cheddar cheese, using brown rice and adding the lemon juice. It's very creamy with the brown rice and 7 cups water! And I've used pumpkin and feta, in place of beets. Adding pureed vegetables makes it healthier. So this recipe is my modified version. Enjoy!

Curried Cous Cous Salad

1 box of curry flavored cous cous (cook as directed; or cook cous cous and add curry powder)

1 diced red bell pepper

1 thinly sliced green onion (green tops only)

couple handfuls of frozen peas

 Cook the cous cous and then throw in the remaining ingredients in the pan until everything is warm.

*from Shauna Nebeker

Variations: 

- sautee the vegetables first and then add on top of cous cous (can add onion if you want)

- add feta or parmesan on top!

- use quinoa instead of cous cous (or another grain), and just add curry powder when cooking it (cook in chicken broth for extra yummy flavor)

- switch up the vegetables with zucchini (although the red pepper is delicious!)
- throw it in a tortilla with some chicken and or spinach and cheese

Cilantro-Lime Rice

3 c. rice
3 T chicken buillon
2 T lime juice
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
1 t. salt

mix all and cook as you would normally cook rice.

*Idea: eat with yummy salsa baked chicken

Indian-Style Pilaf

1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/4 c. celery, chopped
1 T butter
2/3 c. rice
1 1/3 c. water
1 t. chicken buillon
1/2 t. curry powder
1/4 t. salt and pepper
1/8 t. allspice (opt)
1/2 c. raisins (opt)
1/2 c. peanuts or cashews, chopped (opt)

1. Sautee onion and celery in butter until tender
2. Stir in rice to brown it (if desired), or just add the water and seasonings at same time. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer covered 15-20 minutes.
3. Add remaining optional ingredients as desired.

*eat with a yummy piece of chicken (I'll bet a cranberry marinade would taste good)

Bacon Risotto

1/2 pound bacon, diced
5 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (opt.)
salt and black pepper to taste

1.Cook and stir the diced bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon and reserve.
2.Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a saucepan over high heat; reduce heat to low to keep the chicken stock hot.
3.Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion begins to turn golden brown at the edges, about 2 minutes. Pour in the rice and stir until the rice is coated in butter and has started to toast, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir in one-third of the hot chicken stock and continue stirring until the rice has absorbed the liquid and turned creamy. Repeat this process twice more, stirring constantly. Stirring in the broth should take 15 to 20 minutes in all. When finished, the rice should be tender, yet slightly firm.
4.Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the Parmesan cheese (if desired), and the reserved bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.


* Add peas or cooked spinach for a complete meal...yum.