Lemony Pine Nut Pilaf

This dish was a bit too lemony for my taste, although I added some cooked chicken for leftovers and it was nice.  I think with some adjustments it could work better.

Lemony Pine Nut Pilaf

1 c. chicken broth
1 c. uncooked regular white rice
2 T butter
1/3 c. pine nuts
2 T chopped fresh parsley
1 T grated lemon peel
2 T lemon juice

1. In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil and stir in rice. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Saute pine nuts until golden brown. Stir in parsley, lemon peel, and lemon juice.
3. Pour butter mixture over rice, stir to coat. Makes 6 servings.

Brown Rice with Garlic and Cashews

I liked the taste of this dish, but somehow the garlic got burned. Perhaps I had the heat up too high? I will keep this recipe, and hopefully will prepare it better next time.

Brown Rice with Garlic and Cashews

4 T peanut oil

2 c. short-grain brown rice [you will use half and save the rest for fried rice later]

3 1/2 c. water

2 t. plus pinch salt

1 large clove garlic, slivered

1/2 c. broken unsalted cashews

1. Heat 1 1/2 Tablespoon oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the water and 2 teaspoons salt. Heat to boiling. Stir well, cover pan, and reduce heat to low. Cook until water is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Let stand covered for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 1/2 Tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over low heat. Add garlic and cook gently until golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in cashews and cook 2 minutes longer. Sprinkle with pinch salt.

3. Add garlic and cashews with oil to rice and toss to combine. Serve half the rice (about 3 cups). Let remaining rice cool and refrigerate for making fried rice later.

Southern Browned Rice

This is a nice variation to regular steamed rice, a bit buttery-tasting. But, if you are eating rice under some other recipe, there is no need to take the time to make this variation. The rice on the bottom got a little bit broken-up. I had never made rice in the oven before, so that was new for me. I had to cover my dutch oven with foil because the lid was not ovenproof.

Southern Browned Rice

1 1/2 c. long-grain white rice
1 1/2 T butter
1 1/2 t. salt
3 1/2 c. water

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF.
2. Place rice and butter in an ovenproof skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until rice is golden brown but not burned.
3. Add salt and water, cover , and put skillet in the oven. Bake until rice is done, about 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Roast Chicken in Foil

I was surprised by this recipe. I thought I wouldn't like the seasoning, but once I scraped off the reconstituted onions off the top of the chicken it was fine!! The chicken was very moist, and tasted good. I used the chicken flavor of Rice-a-Roni instead of steamed rice, so the I didn't use as much of the juice to flavor it. Although I liked this chicken, I am not going to keep this recipe because I will be unlikely to ever have dry onion soup mix again. I will remember the technique and try with fresh seasoning and perhaps with some vegetables.

Roast Chicken in Foil

2 broiler chickens, approximately 2 pounds in weight, cut in half lengthwise
2 sticks of butter
2 envelopes of dry onion soup mix
4 c. hot fluffy cooked rice

1. Place the chicken halves on aluminum foil large enough to bring up over the top and wrap tightly (or use two pieces of foil, one for the bottom and one for the top).
2. Cut the butter into 1/4-inch slices and arrange them over the top of the chicken.
3. Sprinkle with the dry onion soup mix.
4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, making sure that no steam will be able to escape during cooking.
5. Cook at 300ºF for 45 minutes. Open one corner of the foil and test for doneness by piercing the thickest part of the chicken with a fork.
6. Serve with a portion of the rice. Use a spoonful of the gathered juices in the bottom of the foil to top the rice. Serves 4.

Fluffy Rice and Chicken

I imagined this dish would turn out like one of my favorites that my mother made, I think it was called Chicken Supreme. She would make it for big parties in a huge pan. This was nowhere close to that dish. Again, I am realizing that I don't like certain "easy" cooking ingredients, like cream of mushroom soup. The rice wasn't cooked (probably because I forgot to cover the pan), even though I added extra milk to the soup because it seemed too thick. I am not a fan of mushrooms, so I spent half of the time picking out the mushrooms from the rice. The chicken was well-cooked, moist and the texture was good. However, overall I didn't like the taste of this dish. Someone who enjoys mushrooms might like this better.

Fluffy Rice and Chicken

10 1/2 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3/4 soup can milk
3/4 c. uncooked white rice
4 oz. canned mushroom stem and pieces
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 chicken breasts, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix mushroom soup and milk, reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture.
3. Mix remaining soup mixture, rice, mushrooms (including liquid), and half of the onion soup mix. Pour into un-greased baking dish.
4. Place chicken breasts on top and pour reserved soup mixture over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with remaining onion soup mix.
5. Cover and bake 1 hour.
6. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer. Serves 4.

Lemon Rice

This rice was good, but I had it with my Lemon Chicken and the combination was too lemony. I did not use salt & pepper or rosemary. Also, I forgot to do step 3, which may have made a difference to the lemonyness. I preferred the creamy Lemon Rice I made last week, so this recipe did not make the cut. I am having to get ruthless and a recipe has to be fantastic to make my downsized recipe box!!

Lemon Rice

2 c. chicken broth
1 c. long-grain rice
2 T butter
1 t. grated lemon rind
2 T lemon juice
2 t. chopped parsley
salt and pepper
rosemary

1. In a saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil with butter. Add rice and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until all moisture is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
2. Stir in lemon rind, lemon juice, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a sprinkling of rosemary, if used.
3. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Lemon Rice

This rice was nice and tasty. It ended up being a bit sticky, and a bit too lemony. That could be because I let the rice boil over and it was done early. I couldn't remember if the lemon peel and juice I had in the fridge was from one lemon or a half-lemon. I suspect that it was a whole lemon and I had halved the recipe!! This is a keeper, although it didn't really go well with the chicken dish I prepared to go with it. I should have saved it for my Lemon Chicken that I am cooking tomorrow. Also, I cut the parsley down because I wasn't using fresh.

Lemon Rice

1 c. raw white rice
1 1/2 c. boiling water
1/8 t. salt
juice and peel of 1 lemon
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. heavy cream, slightly warmed
2 T chopped parsley

1. Add rice to boiling water and season to taste with salt. Cook, covered, at medium for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Saute lemon peel in butter for about 3 minutes. Pour butter-lemon peel mixture through a strainer into the rice. Discard the lemon peel.
3. Gently toss in the lemon juice.
4. Add half of the cream, stirring gently. Add the rest of the cream, stirring to coat the grains of rice.
5. Garnish with parsley. Serves 4-6.

One Dish Chicken & Rice Bake

This dish was really easy to prepare, and used everyday ingredients that most people have in their pantry. I liked it better on the first day, the second day I realized that I may not like paprika as a flavor. Thank goodness I am not Hungarian!! I won't keep this recipe, but other people will like it.

As usual I halved the recipe and made my family's tuna casserole with the remaining soup. I have to say that I liked the tuna casserole better than this chicken dish. I guess that is one way to get fish in my diet!!

One Dish Chicken & Rice Bake

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup water
3/4 c. uncooked regular long-grain rice
1/4 t. paprika
1/4 t. pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1. In 2-quart shallow baking dish mix soup, water, rice, paprika and pepper. Place chicken on rice mixture. Sprinkle with additional paprika and pepper.
2. Cover and bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes or until done. Serves 4.

Sweet Cherry & Almond Pilaf

Once I figured out how to use my new gas stove (after burning the first batch of rice) I was pleased with this recipe. Believe it or not I used Maraschino cherries because I had them on hand. I thought it might be too sweet, but it was just right. I love brown rice, it has such flavor and a nice chewy texture. I also used those sliced almonds for salads, and they were a bit too salty. So, the recipe below calls for regular almonds, and the original recipe's cherries!! Also, I didn't have any fresh parsley and it still tasted good.

Sweet Cherry & Almond Pilaf

2 T butter
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/4 c. finely chopped celery
1 1/2 c. water
2/3 c. brown rice
1/4 t. salt
pinch white pepper
2/3 cup sliced cherries
1/8 c. slivered almonds, toasted
1 T chopped fresh parsley

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Saute until onion is lightly browned.
2. Stir in water, rice, salt, and pepper. Heat to boiling. Cover pan and reduce heat to low, simmer mixture 50 - 55 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
3. With fork, stir cherries, almonds, and parsley into rice mixture until well-combined. Serve immediately. Serves 4.