How to Make a Quick & Tasty Rice Dish
rice
Quick & Tasty Rice Dish
Busy lives call for solutions that enable people to do what they need to get done and still eat a healthy meal. There is nothing wrong with ordering pizza or popping something in a box in the microwave, now and the, sometimes we all need to do that.
However, a little bit of work and planning can reduce the need and save us some money. Rice is very simple to make and a rice cooker makes it even easier. I rely on my rice cooker to make enough rice for four servings. It requires two cups of rice and filling the cooker up to the top line.
This makes enough rice for that night’s meal and for another meal later on in the week.
Putting the leftover rice into an airtight container and then putting that in the fridge means I have a staple dish all set for the night when I either do not have the time or the inclination to spend much time cooking.
Now I enjoy cooking and food preparation but there are nights when my schedule does not allow me the time for any lengthy prep so going to the fridge or freezer and pulling out most of what I need for a meal saves time and I do not spend money on take outs or delivery.
I usually use a par-boiled rice, it cooks well and can be tossed into a chicken or tomato soup when cooked and cold; it also makes a good stir fry.
Now and then I use jasmine rice, I like the way it adopts the flavour of the spices added. The other night I decided to make jasmine rice to go with the shrimp and scallops stir fry I was making for dinner.
As usual I made enough rice for a second meal. Three nights later, I had spent most of the afternoon at a local school helping them get their garden ready for planting, when I got home, I was not in the mood to spend time cooking and my back was a bit sore. So into the fridge. I pulled out the rice, some tomato sauce, celery, mushrooms and a tomato. Ten minutes later a tomato-mushroom rice stir fry was ready.
Tomato-Rice Stir Fry
Ingredients;
1 cup cooked rice
½ cup sliced mushrooms
2 stalks celery sliced
1 tsp olive oil
½ cup tomato sauce
1 tomato diced.
Preparation:
1- put olive oil in black cast iron frying pan on high
2- add oil, mushrooms
3- cook 2 minutes, stir
4- add diced tomato
5- Cook 3 minutes. stir
6- add celery
7- cook 2 minutes, stir
8- Add rice. stir
9- Add tomato sauce. stir
10- Cook 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
You can serve with soya sauce or hot sauce or add crushed chilies while cooking near the end.
This will feed two people and can be served in bowls; clean up is also simple as you use only a few items as you prepare meal. Take a few minutes extra when cooking and create leftovers for later in the week; leftovers intentionally prepared can make good meals, as well as saving time and money.