Give a twist to the basic white rice

Give a twist to the basic white rice

Plain white is the number one side dish in most houses. The reasons are it is easy to cook in less than 30 minutes, and you have a perfect accompaniment for chicken, meat, or fish.

Sometimes, (as easy as it may be), eating a simple white dish gets boring. There are plenty of rice preparations that are not tedious at all.

To make your life and mine pleasant, I selected some colorful and tasteful rice dishes that do not take any extra time.

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Ways to liven up plain white rice

Cooking different rice dishes does not have to be an arduous task or time-consuming. The addition of various ingredients during the cooking process makes possible the creation of exquisite and colorful dishes. Your allies in this task are herbs and vegetables.

A simple way to highlight rice flavor is by cooking it with broth or bouillon. Chicken and dense vegetable broths work perfectly. Another alternative is including dried fruits, peas, nuts, or fresh herbs.

Here is my pick of the best and easiest rice twist recipes:

• Vegetable rice: This version is not only easy but also very nutritious and full of color. You can combine the liquid for cooking rice. For making this process, you have to mix half the water needed with half of green sauce, carrot, beet, or tomato juice.
• Mexican rice: This traditional Mexican dish is full of flavor and with a reddish color. Rice is cooked with tomato sauce or tomato sauce. The following link https://minuterice.com/recipes/mexican-rice/ provides a great alternative to plain white rice.
• Mediterranean rice: It encloses a Mediterranean taste in one dish. You can add typical flavors like toasted pine nuts, dried cranberries or dried currants, and olives.
• Indian rice: If you like Indian flavors, this dish is your choice. This rice is seasoned with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and garlic cooked in broth.
• Japanese rice: This is one of my favorite rice preparations. It includes varied flavors and textures. It has rice vinegar, edamame, scallions, and toasted sesame seeds, all stir-fried in sesame oil.
• Mushroom rice: It tastes and feels like risotto. It has Arborio rice, peas, mushrooms, fresh herbs, and grated Parmesan cheese.
• Kimchi rice: It is rich and colorful. This dish contains bacon, kimchi juice, scallions, gochujang, toasted sesame oil, and eggs.
• Walnut and broccoli rice: The base of this dish is white rice, but the incorporation of walnuts and broccoli gives another level of taste. It also has onions, carrots, red bell pepper, and ginger and is seasoned with sriracha, oyster sauce, and paprika.
• Onion rice: It is a tasteful rice preparation with delicious, caramelized onions. This rice bowl includes garlic, and thyme leaves, cooked with white wine and topped with shredded Gruyère cheese.
• Caribbean rice: It is bursting with a tropical taste. This preparation is made of rice cooked in coconut milk and seasoned with allspice, thyme, and ground cloves.

I will try Caribbean rice for my next dinner meal with my family.

Here is the entire recipe. So, you can try it at home.

Caribbean rice

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 1 cup of long-grain rice.
• 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk.
• 1 cup of water.
• 2 minced cloves of garlic.
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon of allspice.
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
• 1 tablespoon of butter.
• 1 cup of diced red and yellow bell pepper.
• 1/2 cup of diced red onion.
• 1 cup of canned pineapple tidbits. Reserve the juice.
• ½ cup of chopped green chilies.
• 1/4 cup of diced Jalapeños peppers.
• 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro.

Preparation:

1. In a saucepan, add rice, unsweetened coconut milk, water, garlic, salt, allspice, and cayenne pepper. You may also include the pineapple juice from the canned pineapple. Mix very well.
2. Cook at medium heat and place a lid over the saucepan.
3. When it boils, reduce the heat.
4. Cook covered for 20 minutes.
5. When the liquid is absorbed, take it out of the heat.
6. In a skillet, add butter, diced red and yellow bell peppers, and onions. Stir-fry for 5 minutes.
7. Take out from the heat and incorporate the pineapple tidbits, chopped green chilies, and Japaleños peppers. Combine.
8. Incorporate the cooked rice in the skillet. Stir very well.
9. Serve with some chopped cilantro on top.
10. It goes perfectly with shrimp or chicken.