Cilantro Lime Rice

This is what I make to go with black beans, and it's especially yummy in a burrito!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white rice
• Coarse salt
• 1/2 - 1 cup fresh cilantro (I usually use closer to a cup)
• Juice from 1 large lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove

Directions:

1. Cook rice with salt.
2. While rice is cooking, blend cilantro, oil, lime, and garlic.  I pulse it with a stick blender until smooth.
3. When rice is finished cooking, stir in cilantro mixture until evenly coated.

Veggies and Rice

Served with flounder

We eat a lot of potatoes around here.  There's baked, and boiled, and oven fries, scalloped, au gratin.  I need to mix up the starch component of mealtime.  So I'm starting with rice.  I looked and looked and looked for recipes, but definitely did not want a casserole-esque type side.  I based on this on a recipe from allrecipes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup uncooked rice 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium yellow summer squash, chopped 
• 1 cup broccoli crowns
• 2 toes garlic, minced

Directions:

1. In a saucepan saute onion and garlic in butter until tender and begin to brown. 
2. Stir in rice and stir, allowing rice to brown a little.
3. Stir in the broth, salt and pepper. 
4. Bring to a boil. 
5. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 13 minutes.
6. Stir in the yellow squash and zucchini. Cover and simmer 6-10 minutes longer or until rice and vegetables are tender. 

Notes:

• This was light, easy and yummy and I can do it with whatever vegetables I have on hand.  I imagine tossing in some frozen peas or carrots would work well.
• It is probably enough for 3-4 servings.
• I did serve this with a little parmesan sprinkled on top.

Broccoli, Cheese, and Rice Casserole

We do lots of stuff with potatoes but not so much with rice so I've been looking for some new dishes to try out.  Have any to send my way?

Hate to call this "casserole" because Charlie cringes at the mention of casserole for supper.  Actually it wasn't very casserole-y, but I did put it in a baking dish and cover it with cheese, so it's a casserole, right?  It would have been good just warmed in the pot and served as "cheesy broccoli rice" as well.

Charlie like it.  I liked it.  I'll do it again, perhaps with a few adjustments as noted below.

I based this recipe off over several I skimmed online, not one in particular.  Again, I used what was on hand.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups small broccoli florets, I used fresh
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup milk, I used whole
• 2 cups shredded cheese, I used a cheddar blend
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 small to medium sized onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 toe garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in pot and add onions, celery, and garlic.  
2. Cook vegetables until they are clear, about 15 minutes.
3. Add broccoli and stir until broccoli begins to become tender, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Dissolve bouillon cube in milk.
5. Add milk mixture to veggies, stirring until warm. 
6. Stir in rice.
7. Stir in 1 cup of cheese and mix thoroughly.
8. Pour rice mixture into backing dish and sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.
9. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  
10. Remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until cheese is beginning to brown and casserole is warm throughout.

Notes:

• I'd like to provide measurements for celery in terms of "stalks" but when I made tomato soup  I chopped the remaining celery and put in freezer for future use.  Loved having this all chopped and ready in the freezer.  I also liked not looking at wilting celery in my fridge all week.  I suppose I should figure out how many stalks are in a cup.
• We were having sir fry for dinner so there was lots of fresh broccoli and cooked rice on hand.  I like to plan meals for the week that use similar ingredients.  It was nice to prepare the broccoli for the stir fry and casserole as well as cook all of the rice at once.  This cut down on prep for the next meal.
• I imagine you could use frozen broccoli if this is something you keep on hand.
• Be careful with the salt.  The bouillon is pretty salty and my rice had a bit of salt in it as well.  I would have preferred to have only used 2 cups cooked rice with 2 cups broccoli, but needed more rice to cut the salt.  Next time I'll use less bouillon and rice or more broccoli.
• A few recipes have more milk and eggs.  Not so sure about this, but I guess this would make it more of a casserole. 
• There were lots of recipes that called for cheese whiz, condensed soup, and crushed Ritz crackers....definite casserole ingredients.  Don't think we'll go this route though.