Brown Rice Pilaf

We have a lot of rice. By that I mean, I buy it by the 20 lb. bag. Yup, we are not big pasta or potato fans, we are big rice fans. I love rice. Jasmine, sushi, long grain, short grain, whatever, I love rice. However, I am not such a big fan of brown rice. Until today. You see I buy my huge bags of rice at the Asian store we have here locally. Yesterday, while I was there, picking up a bag of barley, I saw the brown rice. I know that I am suppose to have that instead of white rice as it will help me to keep my hunger at bay. I haven't had the heart to buy it, not with all the white rice I already have. Eh, I bought it. Okay, white rice for them, brown rice for me. But today we all had it, my parents included.

If you have never had brown rice, it is a different experience than white rice.

We all like this recipe after we put the vinegar on it. Let me explain, I made a brown rice pilaf of sorts. I figured if I was going to make it, I should pull out the flavors! I chopped some dried apricots, pecans, parsley, etc. I made my pilaf but when it got to the table it was well, kind of blah. I went to the pantry and pulled out some seasoned rice vinegar. I drizzled a teaspoon of it on my rice. Woah. It was really good. Good enough that it made me look forward to having it again tomorrow. My parents followed suit and liked it that way as well. I guess its in the genes.

I found a great write up on How to Cook Brown Rice. It worked like a charm. Check it out here.

Put brown rice and water together in a pot with a lid. Use the ratio of 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice.

Set the heat to maximum, and bring the rice/water to a boil uncovered. Then put the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to low/simmer.

Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the rice sit in the covered pot for another 10 minutes or more.

Brown Rice Pilaf
Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness Original

10 unsulfured dried apricots ( they look awful but taste sensational), chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup parsely, chopped
juice of half of a lemon
4 cups cooked brown rice
seasoned salt
garlic powder
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 cup celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped

Cook brown rice. Set aside. In a small frying pan, saute onions, celery and carrots in olive oil until lightly golden. Pour into a large bowl. Place parsley, chopped pecans and apricots in the bowl as well. Measure out four cups of brown rice and add it to the bowl. Add salt and pepper, garlic and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Drizzle with seasoned rice vinegar.

Calories 250 calories per cup.