Pine nut Pilaf

This recipe is on the inside cover of a pine nut clamshell container from great lakes international trading co (click here), I had all the ingredients on hand so made it as a side with grilled pork chops last night and it is great! I shouldn't be surprised since they bothered to put it on the cover hahaha, but I was surprised none-the-less. Pinenuts are expensive but sooooo worth it in this recipe - click here to see how to toast pine nuts to bring out even more fragrant nutty flavor. 

Apricot Pinenut Rice

 

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Author: Jill Wilkes

Ingredients

• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 cup Long Grain or Basmati Rice
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 14oz can Chicken Broth
• ¼ cup Water
• ½ cup Great Lakes’ Dried Apricots, diced
• ⅓ cup Great Lakes’ Pinenuts, toasted
• 1 Tablespoon Basil
• ½ teaspoon ground Cumin
• pepper

Instructions

1. Cook onion in olive oil over low heat.
2. Add rice, salt, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down to simmer for 15 to 18 minutes (until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed).
3. Add apricots, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the pinenuts, basil and cumin.
5. Pepper to taste and serve.

note: I omitted the onion and it still has great flavor, and I used dried basil. Yum. 

One-Dish Spanish Rice

Flipped thru an Allrecipes magazine that came in the mail (it keeps saying this is my "last" issue - but I didn't pay for it and it just keeps coming!) and this recipe caught my eye. Yes I was hungry and that's never a good time to decide what's for dinner - we don't eat very many "casserole" type dishes, but this seemed fairly healthy so I wanted to try it.

SPANISH RICE BAKE
allrecipes november 2016

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
      (1/4 cup)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1/2 cup chile sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cook beef in a large, ovenproof skillet (with a lid) over medium-high heat, breaking up lumps with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, green pepper, tomatoes, water, rice, chile sauce, salt, brown sugar, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir once, then cover tightly. Don't stir it again or take the top off. Cook, covered, over low heat 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375'.
3. Uncover rice mixture, stir, and sprinkle with cheese. Transfer to oven and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serves 6.

per 1-cup serving: 350 cal; 19.1g fat; 18.5 pro; 24.9g carb


It's a very easy recipe and after doctoring it a little it was a great dinner. I don't know what chile sauce is compared to chili sauce, didn't see chile sauce at the store so went with chili sauce. I thought it was a little bland so added 1 heaping Tablespoon of Mexican seasoning (I found it at the local grocery store, it's just called "mexican seasoning" and I add it to lots of things), a scoop of salsa, and salt and pepper. The other thing I did differently is just put the cheese on top of the rice and put the lid back on until it melted - I didn't put it in the oven (the original recipe is named "spanish rice bake" but I didn't bake it so changed it to "one-dish" haha). Served with a side salad of shredded iceberg lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced avocado, drizzled with a little olive oil and lemon juice. Yum, it was a hit.

Because I love leftovers for breakfast I reheated this the next morning and topped it with a basted egg - Dave said it was like spanish hash and I just made up a new thing hahaha! It was delicious!

stir once before putting the lid on tightly...

melt cheese after the rice is cooked.