Recipes for rice?

[littlelamb]

I am looking for some recipes that use rice, as we have cut back on meat and I think rice is nice and filling, I just don't know how to make it interesting! Ideally I am looking for things that can be a meal in itself, or that can accompany something like salmon.

There are loads of things you can do with rice. Our favourites are:

rice and dhal

rice salad (cooled cooked rice with different things added, eg tuna and sweet corn)

kedgeree is a meal in itself but I don't like due to having being forced to eat it as a child

risotto?

Asparagus risotto is a favourite here.

Dice an onion and fry it gently with a couple of cloves of garlic in a casserole dish/deep pan, in olive oil and/or butter. You need a good dollop of oil or at least an ounce of butter.

Chop the asparagus and add that to the pan, season.

Stir in a mug of rice and cook it for a couple of minutes - stir to make sure all the grains of rice get coated in oil/butter.

Add a wineglass of white wine and cook until it's evaporated (will only take a couple of minutes) then add hot chicken stock, a ladleful at a time, until the rice is cooked through. You want it to be al dente, but also to be reasonably liquid rather than dry.

When it's cooked, stir in a large handful of grated parmesan.

risotto is fab - the Jamie Oliver one is delicious but time-consuming - this oven-baked one is less mind-blowing but 600 times easier and you can put any old stuff in - roasted veg, unroasted veg, any meat scraps, frozen peas etc

I don't tend to cook rice as a side dish (unless for curry or something where it's going to mop up a sauce), but frying a chopeed onion in the oil before you add the rice is always nice.

I sometimes serve egg fried rice with salmon, as I bake my salmon after it's been marinaded in garlic, ginger and soy sauce, so it's sort of Chinese-y.

Cook your rice, drain, rinse and let it go cold.

In a wok/frying pan fry a finely diced onion in a light oil (sunflower/vegetable/rapeseed for example). Chuck in a handful of cooked peas. When the onions have softened, stir in the rice and cook it till it's hot. Then make a well in the middle of the pan and pour in a beaten egg. Leave it to set for a couple of minutes, then scramble it into the rice. Just before you serve it, season the rice with a generous dash of soy sauce.

How could I forget risotto! Spinach is my fave!

I do veg biryani - good way to get kids to eat lots of veg.

Fry a chopped onion, add a tbsn (or more to taste) of a curry paste (I use pataks tikka massala or korma), then add rice (175g if just me & dc or 350g if h is here). Stir it well to coat then add stock (430ml for smaller meal or 850ml for bigger meal).
Cover and put in oven (200c/180c fan/gas 6) for 15 mins, then take out and add handfuls of frozen veg and give it a stir, then back in the oven for 5 more mins.

If you want to add chicken then brown some chicken thighs (nice and cheap) and add to rice before it goes into the oven, then cook for 20 mins.

Nice and tasty and kids love it if I dont make it too spicy!

Our favourite recipe is Cha Han from the Wagamama cookbook. Involves chicken, prawns, rice, veg and yalitori sauce (which is easy to make yourself).
You might find it online.

yakitori

Also asparagus risotto.
And there's a good spicy fishy rice recipe in Nigella Bites which I've done a few times. My boys love it.

I always do egg fried rice with leftover rice, and the kids wolf it down.

Much the same way as BecauseImWorthIt - except I substitute (lots of!) garlic for the onion, put the frozen peas in towards the end - cos the kids prefer them raw - and add a bit of chicken stock if the rice is looking a bit dry.

We also love rice balls with Japanese sprinkles in this house - look in an Asian speciality store - there is a lovely one with egg and seaweed.

Here's a risotto recipe i make:

3oz Arborio rice per person
2 tbsp of olive oil or 2 oz of butter
1 1/5 pints of chicken stock
3 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
half a green pepper, finely sliced and chopped
half a red pepper, finely sliced and chopped
4-5 mushrooms - small to med size, finely chop
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced and then chopped
A hand full of frozen peas or maybe some green beans finely chopped can be added
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato puree
salt & pepper (to taste)
1 tsp dried basil

Heat oil/butter in a large pan or wok, add the rice and stir letting it cook gently for around 2 mins.
Then add the stock and all the other ingredients, bring to the boil, stirring it... then you simmer it for around 20 mins.

If it looks like it's going dry, add a little water and stir.

Serve in bowls, with some homemade crusty bread and butter.
Enjoy...

For the yummiest rice on the planet, try the braised rice recipe in the Gary Rhodes Keeping it simple book. Basically you fry some finely chopped onion in butter, add basmati rice, add double the volume of chicken stock. Put a piece of greaseproof paper over the top with a tight fitting lid. Simmer. Eat. Yum.

Tonight I made an experimental thing because I needed to use up tins of tuna. I say experimental because I'm allergic to fish so have to guess what it will taste like.

I boiled rice (about two handfuls). Once cooked I added a tin of drained tuna chunks. I fried some finely chopped onion and red pepper then added that to the rice and tuna. Added a squirt of ketchup and a small egg beaten up. then I formed them into small patties and fried them in a bit of olive oil.
The kids inhaled them so I have to assume they were good.