Perfect Rice Pilaf

Looking for the perfect side dish to serve? Try this rice pilaf. It's the perfect choice for any meal.

Perfect Rice Pilaf

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup orzo pasta, uncooked

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 -2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

2 cups chicken broth

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add orzo pasta. Cook and stir until pasta is golden brown. Stir in onion and cook until onion becomes translucent. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add rice and chicken broth. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and it's ready to serve.

Spanish Rice

Sometimes you just need a quick, easy delicious side to serve with your main dish. This Spanish Rice does the trick--quick, easy, and delicious!

Spanish Rice

1 - 2 Tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)

1 small onion chopped

1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup chunky salsa

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add rice to skillet, stirring often. When rice begins to brown, stir in chicken broth and salsa. When it comes to a boil, cover and reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed.

**This makes a lot of rice, so if you have a small family just cut the ingredients in half. Of course, my family enjoyed the left-overs!

Wild Rice Salad

Looking for something different. Here's a new salad I tried and it was very tasty. The recipe called for 3/4 of a cup of dressing, but I thought it was too much. So I changed it to 1/2 to 3/4 cup. My husband loved it and ate just about all of it. This would be great to bring to a covered dish dinner because everyone wants to try something new.

Wild Rice Salad

1 box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 purple onion, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 - 3/4 cup vinegarette dressing (I used Paul Newman's Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing)

Cook wild rice according to directions on box and cool completely. Add all ingredients and refrigerate overnight.

**For a complete one-dish meal, add cooked chicken or shrimp.

Creamy Noodles and Rice

I found this recipe on the back of a Campbell's Noodle Soup with Real Chicken Broth box. I do use Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup with Chicken Broth, too. Sorry, Campbell's. Either one works great. It's a delicious side with your favorite meat and vegetable.

Creamy Noodles and Rice

1 tablespoon butter

3 medium carrots, chopped (I use my peeler and get the pieces of carrot really thin.)

1 small onion, chopped

2 1/2 cups water

1 pouch dry noodle soup mix (Campbell's or Lipton)

2/3 cup uncooked regular long-grain rice

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I always forget to put this on it, but it tastes good anyway.)

In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add carrots and onion and cook until tender. Add water, soup mix and rice. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 20 minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese (this is the part I forget to do) and it's ready to serve.

Meatballs and Rice

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. So, are you tired of eating turkey yet? Let's check out some beef recipes.

I was looking through an old cookbook and found this recipe for meatballs and rice that sounded interesting. It gave ingredients for making your own meatballs, but in this day and age you can go to the frozen food section of the grocery store and get meatballs already made.
Well, I had the frozen meatballs and I just followed the rest of the recipe and it was delicious! Even my picky grandchildren loved it.

Meatballs and Rice

Before you begin, you need to make some white rice. I put 2 cups of water with salt and a pat of butter in a pot on the stove and let it come to a boil. Add 1 cup of long grain rice, bring it back to a boil, put a lid on the pot and cook for 20 minutes (don't peek!) Set aside.

Frozen Meatballs (about 30)
1 - 2 slices of bacon
2 Tablespoons of chopped onion
2 Tablespoons of green bell pepper, chopped
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook bacon in a skillet. Add onion and bell pepper and saute' together for a few minutes. Add frozen meatballs, cover and cook until meatballs are done. Stir and turn meatballs occasionally. Remove the bacon. Add the tomato sauce, water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Add the precooked rice, mix well and bring to a boil. Cover and cook 5-10 minutes, fluffing the rice once or twice with a fork. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.

Aunt Ruth's Savory Rice

Now I know I'm no Paula Deen, but I do have a much better Savory Rice recipe than the one I posted yesterday that came from Paula's cookbook--and it takes less time to make. My Aunt Ruth use to make this dish when we'd come visit her. She shared this recipe with me when I was a young girl and that was a long, long time ago. Now don't wait too long to make this. It is great with the Chicken Poupon Dijon, Nana's Grilled Chicken, Baked Ham--the list goes on.

Aunt Ruth's Savory Rice

1/2 stick butter

1 small onion chopped

1 small can mushrooms

1 can beef consomme soup

3/4 can of water

1 cup Uncle Ben's Converted Rice

In a medium pot, melt butter and saute the onions. Add the drained mushrooms and saute a couple of minutes more. Add the soup and using the soup can to measure the water, add the water. Let this come to a boil. Add the rice and let it come to a boil again. Then cover the pot, turn to burner to low and cook for 20 minutes. Don't peek! After 20 minutes, remove from burner and mix lightly, cover and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Savory Rice

I got this recipe from a fellow teacher. I had gone to her house to give her a baby gift and I could smell something great cooking. She said it was Savory Rice, a recipe she got from her Paula Deen cookbook. Needless to say, she gave me the recipe and here it is.

Savory Rice

1 cup chopped onion

1 stick of butter (I used 1/2, one stick is too much! Paula, what are you thinking?)

1 can of beef broth soup

1 can of French onion soup

1 can mushrooms (4 1/2 oz)

1 cup uncooked rice

Preheat oven to 350. Saute onion in butter. Add mushrooms. Stir in beef broth, onion soup and uncooked rice. Mix together and put in a casserole dish. Bake 1 hour until done. Stir rice before serving.