Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Easy Peasy Rice Pilaf

I am pathologically incapable of making simple, plain rice on the stovetop. I always burn the bottom or it turns out soupy or something. If I didn't have a rice steamer, I'm pretty sure we'd never have plain rice as a side dish. Why is it so hard for me? It's rice and water and cover it and let it cook for 20 minutes.

I can, however, make a kick-ass pilaf which is better than dumb old plain rice anyway.

a tiny bit less than 1 cup of uncooked rice
1 clove of diced garlic (or some garlic powder)
5 or 6 pieces of dried vermicelli or spaghetti, broken up into bits, the smaller the better (or some orzo if you have it, but I can never find it, even when I really want it)
1 tablespoon of butter (don't use margarine, it doesn't cook the same and it's gross)
about 2 cups of chicken or beef broth (or 2 cups of water plus some boullion)
1 or 2 chopped up green onions

melt the butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. Saute the rice, garlic and pasta until it just barely starts to brown. Add the broth (or water) and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, turn off the heat, take off the lid, fluff up the rice, stir in the green onions and serve. Exactly as difficult as rice-a-roni, but with less chemical-y preservative stuff.

(not pictured - it's rice pilaf, it's beige and has little bits of green in it)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Super-Lazy and Semi-Healthy Crock Pot Chili

I know it's not a traditional chili, but it's semi-healthy, super easy and versatile enough - you can serve it on its own, over spaghetti, over polenta, over fries, over nachos... you get the idea.


1 pound of ground turkey or chicken (or beef, )
1 can of black or pinto beans
1 jar of your favorite salsa
between 1.5 - 2 cups of water (if you use too much and the chili turns out too soupy, you can thicken it with some instant mashed potato flakes)
your favorite chili toppings - shredded cheese, diced green onions, sour cream

Dump all ingredients into the crockpot, stir to mix and break up the meat and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.