St. Patrick’s Day Green Rice
Looking for an easy side dish for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the donning of green clothing and jewelry, not to mention green beverages (particularly alcoholic ones)? This easy to make colorful side dish will add a healthy twist to greenifying everything!
Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1½ cups California Calrose rice
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
½ cup fresh parsley leaves
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of ½ small lemon
Directions
Heat chicken stock in saucepan, then set aside.
Heat oil in another heavy saucepan over medium heat, add onion, peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring for about 3-4 minutes. Add the rice and cook for about a minute or until the rice is coated and starts to have a nutty aroma.
Add half of the warm chicken stock to the rice mixture, stir and cover. Reduce heat to low and cook until most of the liquid is gone, about 5 minutes.
While the rice mixture is cooking, combine the remaining warm chicken stock with the spinach, cilantro and parsley leaves in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Stir in blended spinach mixture into rice mixture and cook on low heat until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to mixture. Remove from heat and let sit, covered for 10 minutes or until ready to serve. Fluff rice with a fork, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 6-8
Julie is Finance & Administration Manager for the California Rice Commission, and a big proponent of trying new recipes- especially if they feature California rice.
