This Rice Dish Is The Perfect Addition To Any Dinner
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After a long day at work, the last thing you want to think about is what to make for dinner. Let’s say you’re making a quick trip to the store and you’re set on your protein, but you need an easy side dish that everyone at your dinner table will love. Rice pilaf might not sound like the most exotic dish out there, but if you know the process and the right ingredients to include, it’ll be your new go-to. Rice pilaf beats steamed rice any day.
The first thing you’ll want to do is cook your aromatics — these are your ingredients that emit a distinctive smell — like your shallots, celery, carrots, onions or garlic. Put a little olive oil into a hot saute pan and saute your onions or your ingredients of choice until they’re soft. With onions, you’ll want to make sure they’re translucent.
Next, get your rice going. Pick a long-grain rice like basmati, jasmine or American long-grain rice. Add the amount of rice you want to make and coat it with the olive oil and the other veggies and spices in the pan. Move it around until the rice starts to smell toasty, which will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
For your broth, the ratio of rice to liquid should be 1:2. You always want double the amount of liquid for your rice, no matter how much rice you decide to make. This is a big reason rice pilaf beats regular steamed rice. The more flavorful the broth, the more fragrant your rice will be.
Cover the rice with your broth of choice — a good quality chicken stock will do the trick — and any herbs or spices you want to flavor it with. You can go with herbs like thyme or sage, or spices like cinnamon sticks and cardamom. Whatever spices you’re using for your main dish, throw those into the pot with your rice.
Bring your pot to a boil, cover it with a tight-fitting lid, bring it down to the simmer (very small bubbles) and cook on very low heat until all of the liquid has been absorbed. It’ll take around 15 minutes or so. You can probably go watch half an episode of something in that time, just don’t forget about your rice.
When all of the liquid is absorbed, take a fork and fluff the rice and then serve it right away. You can’t go wrong. This is a super easy way to make a rice dish that’ll go with anything you’re cooking.
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