You might remember from a previous post that one of our favorite summertime meals features Teriyaki Chicken…a great marinate-all-day-grill-it-up-quick type of dinner. Now, what side dish better accompanies this Teriyaki Chicken than Rice Pilaf?
There must be hundreds of variations for Rice Pilaf, today I’m sharing my version. Even one of my sons who doesn’t like rice (can you imagine that!) reaches for seconds on this rice dish. Rice is one of the oldest foods we know of that is still eaten today and maybe that’s the reason why there are so many different dishes that use rice?
This recipe is in no way “touchy”, in fact I generally just measure the rice and the liquid and then estimate everything else.
Rice Pilaf Recipe:
- 3 cups cooking liquid (water or combination of water and chicken stock)
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 cup orzo (found in the pasta department)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp sage
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- sprinkle of pepper
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)
- Parsley flakes and sliced almonds, (optional garnishes)
- In a saucepan, bring liquid to a rolling boil.
In the meantime, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add rice, orzo, salt and spices…slivered almonds if you like, stir together and toast until lightly browned. Turn down the rice mixture as low as possible and pour boiling liquid into the skillet… carefully because the water will be further heated by the hot rice and will do a wild dance.
Cover skillet with a lid and cook over low heat for 20 minutes until finished cooking.
Remove the lid (see how you did!) and fluff up with a fork. If necessary, turn up the heat and briefly cook while turning to evaporate any unwanted moisture clinging to the rice and pasta.
Transfer to a serving dish and garnish.
Delicious served with chicken and steamed vegetables… a broccoli, cauliflower, carrot medley or just steamed broccoli.
