What goes with plain rice?

[home4school]

We just discovered rice that isn't the minute-type. Well, we really like it! It's just so yummy, but I don't know what to serve it with. :) I don't mean like in a recipe with a cream soup and chicken, but where its just a side dish and not with Mexican.

 

I was thinking baked chicken, rice, some type of bread, but what else? We always have either mashed potatoes or mac & cheese with everything, but you can't do that! What "goes" with chicken and rice? Green Beans? Corn on the cob? I'm just drawing a blank!

 

Thanks!

Kim

[eternalknot]

Steamed veggies - broccoli, carrots, cauliflower?

 

Sauteed veggies - sliced bell peppers with onions, garlic spinach?

 

Soup - noodle soup?

 

We eat rice every day. It goes beautifully with pretty much everything other than potatoes and pasta :) I'd pass on the corn, just because the plate sounds like it needs a color boost (too much of the same color food if serving baked chicken, rice, bread already).

[The Governess]

Any vegetables, really.

 

Also stir-fry or a curry-based dish.

 

Cooked beans (don't have to be mexican style) like Pinto, Cranberry, Great Northern, or a bean mixture.

 

Serve with lentils or a stew on top.

 

Cook it in half coconut milk and half water and mix in some cinnamon and raisins and have it for breakfast. :D

 

Make some fried rice with leftover veggies and an egg or two.

 

Just about any dish that is a little saucy would pair well with rice.

[mommylawyer]

Butter! LOL!!!

 

Actually, we eat steamed rice several times a week - with fish, Asian dishes, red beans & rice, chili, etc.

[Perry]

We eat rice 3 or 4 times a week. If something goes with mashed potatoes, it goes with rice, generally.

 

 

The only thing I don't serve it with is pasta. It goes with just about everything else.

[Laura Corin]

Anything with a sauce: casseroles, etc. are good.

 

Laura

[Peri]

Our culture eats lots and lots of rice. We love to eat it with a thick chunky tomato soup. the three basics are:

 

Eggplant soup:

1 large eggplant cut into 1 inch chunks

1 onion chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

1 can of whole tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of beef stock

 

Zuccinni soup:

3-4 zuccinni chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

1-2 garlic cloves minced

1 can of whole tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of beef stock

 

Okra Soup:

about 1 lb of okra with the tops cut off

1-2 garlic cloves

1 onion chopped

1 can of whole tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of beef stock

 

You just saute the garlic, onions and celery in each recipe and then add the veggies to the saute. You don't want to completely cook the veggies, but heat them through with the oil and help form some sort of seal on them. Now add the beef stock and simmer for about 1/2 hr. Add the can of whole tomatoes. Open the can of tomato paste and thin it a little with water until it resembles spaghetti sauce and add it to the pot. simmer for another 1/2 hr. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice.

 

Rice is also good with any kind of stew.

[OnTheBrink]

I like to mix it with eggs and salsa. I butter a pan, put the cooked rice in it, then crack 2-3 eggs in it and stir stir stir until the eggs are cooked. I don't beat them first. Then, I throw in some salsa and eat. I like this for breakfast sometimes.

 

ETA: I only put more than 2 eggs in if I'm making it for more than just me.

[home4school]

Wow, lots of fast responses! Y'all must have know about this good rice for a while! :D The only time we had rice before was the minute-kind and nobody really liked it, so we only used it when we "had" to for stir-fry. But now, gosh, the world of rice has opened!

 

Being from the south, you eat potatoes with EVERYTHING. My dh's family has chili and mashed potatoes (its actually very good) and I grew up eating spaghetti with homemade fries! Can't have a meal without a potatoe. I do the chili thing now, but not the spaghetti. My mother still makes it for herself.

 

Keep up coming, ladies. I'm tired of potatoes!

Kim

[nmoira]

My family's favourite quick disk is sausage and rice. I put sliced, cooked (usually pre-cooked in the package) sausage on top of the rice with about 15-20 minutes left to cook. DH eats it with hot sauce, while the kids and I eat it plain. Some veggies on the side, and it's a meal.

[myfunnybunch]

Everything!

 

We usually eat it with chicken or fish and a salad or green vegtable.

 

Cat

[Sherry in OH]

Rice and beans

Rice with vegetable dumplings in korma sauce (or any other Indian fare)

Spanish Rice

Rice and stir fried anything

Leftover rice fried with mixed vegetables and egg

Rice pudding

Rice mixed with wild rice, water chestnuts, orange marmalade, and seasonings or with wild rice, chestnuts, mushrooms and seasonings

 

I generally use rice, corn meal, pasta, and potatoes interchangably. One week we might have chili and rice, the next week chili with pasta, another week chili and polenta.

[cajunrose]

I live in South Louisiana....there isn't a meal that goes by that we don't have rice with it somehow. We can and usually do add rice to any meal. My daughter has grown up on 'rice and gravy.' Have fun with your newly discovered rice!

[Karen_OK]

We eat lots of rice too. In fact I have beans in the crockpot right now to have with rice tonight. Do you fix your rice on the stove or do you have a rice cooker? Rice cookers are great if you fix rice often.

[LauraGB]

I don't mean like in a recipe with a cream soup and chicken, but where its just a side dish and not with Mexican.

 

I was thinking baked chicken, rice, some type of bread, but what else?

 

What "goes" with chicken and rice? Green Beans? Corn on the cob? I'm just drawing a blank!

 

 

 

Peas. I love brown rice with peas (I like it mixed, but...), salt and pepper, maybe a little olive oil or butter.

[Ellie]

I love white rice. I've tried rilly, rilly hard to like brown rice, but no. It just isn't the same, and I don't care that white rice doesn't have the nutrition that brown rice does. So there.:D

 

As others have said, any time you would serve potatoes, you can serve rice instead. I *love* brown gravy and rice, especially if it's the brown gravy I made after frying chicken. White gravy and rice. Butter and rice. Soy sauce and rice. Rice. Yum.:D

 

The secret to good rice, all the time, is a rice cooker. Not a rice *steamer,* but a rice *cooker.* Put the rice and the water in the cooker (which can be set anywhere so it doesn't take up a burner on your stove), turn it on, walk away. When it's finished it "dings" and then keeps the rice warm until you are ready to serve it. Steamed rice is yummy, but the steamers I've seen don't make as much rice as the cookers.

[Peri]

I love white rice. I've tried rilly, rilly hard to like brown rice, but no. It just isn't the same, and I don't care that white rice doesn't have the nutrition that brown rice does. So there.:D

 

As others have said, any time you would serve potatoes, you can serve rice instead. I *love* brown gravy and rice, especially if it's the brown gravy I made after frying chicken. White gravy and rice. Butter and rice. Soy sauce and rice. Rice. Yum.:D

 

The secret to good rice, all the time, is a rice cooker. Not a rice *steamer,* but a rice *cooker.* Put the rice and the water in the cooker (which can be set anywhere so it doesn't take up a burner on your stove), turn it on, walk away. When it's finished it "dings" and then keeps the rice warm until you are ready to serve it. Steamed rice is yummy, but the steamers I've seen don't make as much rice as the cookers.

 

I'm the same way. I have tried and tried over and over agin to switch to brown rice and I just can't get to like it lol. White rice to me is comfort food lol.

 

I also wanted to add that if you add a little bit of oil ... about 1 tsp per cup of rice ... it helps to keep the rice moist. We actually saute the rice in a little bit of oil and then add the water and salt. Let it come to a full boil and then drop the heat to low, cover, and walk away. It's done in about 20 mins.

 

I edited to add that I never really understood what the whole purpose of quick cooking rice was all about. Rice doesn't take that long to cook and it doesn't need to be watched either. you just let it simmer on low for about 20 mins, enough time to prepare a salad and cteam some veggies.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Peri

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

What I serve with (to eat over) rice:

 

 

Sweet and sour anything

Stirfried anything

roasted anything with gravy

swedish meatballs

Ropa vieja

gumbo

chili

chunky tomato based dishes

[prairie rose]

Rice is interchangeable with potatoes here. My kids have never had minute rice. :lol: Typically, I plan meals to have an entree (usually some kind of meat but we have a couple of meatless meals that we eat), a starch and a veggie. Soups and stews I consider to be a combination meat and veggie (at least the ones we make) so I serve some kind of bread with those for a starch. I rarely serve bread with any other kind of meal because we usually have potatoes, rice or noodles already serving as the starch. The only exception is spaghetti or lasagna which we have garlic bread with even though they have a starch already (noodles). I don't make them often because we generally don't like them but a casserole that includes meat, veggies and either biscuits on top or a pie crust, I serve with no other sides or veggies. But I might serve dessert with those meals. Dessert is also a rarity around here.

 

I don't have any hard fast rules for what veggies go with what meals. Usually, I just stock the freezer with a variety of veggies and I ask a kid or dh to choose a veggie as I'm cooking. I almost always steam them in the microwave.

 

Anyways, here are our favorite rice meals:

 

Salisbury Steak with gravy, white rice and a veggie

 

Mince and Onions on white rice

 

Baked chicken with flavored rice (add what ever spices we have in the spice cabinet, garlic and butter is an old standby if we aren't feeling creative)

 

BBQ chicken (either grilled or baked) with rice cooked with chicken stock or bullion

 

Steak with plain white rice

 

Grilled chicken (on the grill or on the grill pan on the stovetop) with italian seasoned rice

 

Sauteed or grilled fish with plain or buttered rice

 

Chicken Fried steak with rice (if we are out of potatoes :lol: )

 

Chicken and Broccoli stirfry with rice

 

Grilled Shishkabobs with rice

 

Curry on plain rice or saffron rice

 

Taco rice (we were introduced to this in Japan of all places :lol: Just make a taco salad on a bed of white rice instead of chips or taco shells. You can add salsa or taco seasoning to the rice as it cooks as you want but we like it plain.)

 

 

Oh and I was taught the "proper" way to cook rice in Japan as well. :lol: The ratio of rice to water is 1:1.5 so since I usually cook 3 cups of rice, I need 4.5 cups of water. Measure the rice and rinse it in a strainer over the sink. Combine the rice and measured water in a sauce pan (add any seasonings you like too) Do not stir the rice at anytime from this point on. Cook on high until it reaches a rolling boil. Turn down to medium and put a lid on the pan but not all the way, balance it so it only covers about 2/3 of the pan. Once the top of the rice has "craters", cover completely and turn to low. Allow to continue cooking, without lifting the lid, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. I've never had a bad batch of rice cooking it this way. :D Oh and I always save left over plain rice to make rice pudding with for breakfast the next morning :yum:

 

ETA: My dh is lactose intolerant so in general I can't make "creamy things" like rice with cheese or au gratin potatoes or creamy noodle dishes. If I just have a real craving for one of these things, I'll make a small pan of rice for him and the rest of us have the creamy side dish. His favorite way for me to make his individual rice dish is to put a little curry powder in it. ;)

Edited December 10, 2009 by prairie rose

[lllll]

Everything.

 

I put Braswell's Pepper Relish http://braswells.com/category.aspx?categoryID=17 on mine sometimes. One ds puts Dijon mustard on his. And so on.

 

24yos made gumbo for Thanksgiving dinner. Great over rice. That's the cook with 26yos behind him holding up the crab legs. :)

[6packofun]

Cook the rice in chicken stock and season with soy sauce and steamed veggies

 

Parmesan cheese and your favorite herb

 

A squirt of lime juice, fresh cilantro and black beans

 

Sauteed in olive oil with vermicelli and browning before boiling/steaming and then adding peas and carrots for a pilaf

[MaMa2005]

I love white rice. I've tried rilly, rilly hard to like brown rice, but no. It just isn't the same, and I don't care that white rice doesn't have the nutrition that brown rice does. So there.:D

 

Oh, I love white rice, too! I, too, tried to like brown rice but never could acquire the taste. UNTIL - I found sweet brown rice at the Asian Market. Cooks in my rice cooker just like sweet white rice and it has a wonderful flavor. DH even eats it and he is the world's pickiest eater. Considering we eat rice every day, at least now it is a little healthier.

[MeaganS]

One of my husband's favorite meals and easiest to make is rice with chicken. I just George Foreman a some seasoned chicken breast and we eat it with hot sauce and plain yogurt mixed together and buttered rice. The hot sauce and yogurt combine to make a sort mild kick and keeps the food from being bland (I'm not a fan of lasting burning sensations in my mouth).

 

It's a super easy last minute dinner that we have every few weeks or so. Just add a vegi and you're good to go!

[6packofun]

Oh, I'm sorry...you weren't asking how to *prepare* rice, were you? LOL

[Rosie_0801]

Like the other said: Everything!

 

I'll even eat it with fruit salad.

 

Funny about those swearing against brown rice. I used to be just the same, but dh insisted on brown. Now white rice (unless in a risotto) tastes about as exciting as no name brand, white supermarket bread!

 

:)

Rosie

[tdeveson]

We eat white rice with everything. You can substitute it for potatoes any time. We eat rice with beans, beef and chicken stews, fish of all kinds, with fried eggs and sweet ripe plantains, you can make rice pudding with it.

 

Go to http://allrecipes.com and search for "rice." There will be hundreds of recipes.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

We love to serve rice and chicken. The other side dish is is usually a steamed veggie or a salad.

[Ellie]

Rice doesn't take that long to cook and it doesn't need to be watched either. you just let it simmer on low for about 20 mins, enough time to prepare a salad and cteam some veggies.

Oh, yes it does. Just one time walk away and miss that 20 minute time limit! You might think you're not watching it while you're preparing a salad and veggies, but you are. I won't *ever* give up my rice cooker.:D

[Guest Katia]

Now white rice (unless in a risotto) tastes about as exciting as no name brand, white supermarket bread!

 

:)

Rosie

 

Yep. Same here. If it ain't brown, I don't fix it.

 

I'll eat the white when my ds cooks it with his Japanese dishes, but I don't care for the taste at all any more.

[BikeBookBread]

We're a big rice family too, but only buy Jasmine for everyday rice, Calrose for Japanese dishes or Arborio for risotto. I've tried to get dh to like brown to no avail. I will keep trying.

 

As stated before we eat it with everything. We have a rice cooker which makes all the difference in the world regarding the quality.

 

Faves:

Baked with chicken, by chicken, in a casserole with chicken. Cluck cluck cluck here.

As a side to fish.

Ground beef or turkey and peppers over rice.

In soup

With stir fry

With Indian food

With Thai food....

Nothing new to add, just chiming in :)

[joannqn]

We usually eat rice with a stir fry of teriyaki chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots. Sometimes I'll use a bag of frozen "Asian vegetables" and add more broccoli to it. Sometimes I'll add potstickers and/or egg rolls from Costco's frozen section as sides.

[home4school]

Wow, lots of great ideas! Too many to respond to individually, but I have taken something away from each one. I didn't even realize there were different types of rice besides white and brown!:blush: Y'all have given me lots to go on.

 

I'll try the suggestion for cooking as well. Tonight it turned out kind of dry. That hasn't happened til now. I'll definitely be in the market for a cooker, too.

 

Thanks for all the ideas!

Kim

[Guest Bambooh]

Butter, actually. In my culture butter is based on plain butter, chopped meat, spinach, lettuce, ect. you just put it on a flat cooker thingy and bam it is delicious. Even delicious with my moms homemade sauce! *-*:iagree:

[Bang!Zoom!]

This is probably the only area I use coupons for, and I buy salad dressing and toss it in, changes the entire landscape of leftover + rice.

 

Just stir some in, let it marinate, pop in the oven and give the remains a new name. No one knows the difference and thinks it's an entirely new dish..lol.

[Kathryn]

Wow, lots of fast responses! Y'all must have know about this good rice for a while! :D The only time we had rice before was the minute-kind and nobody really liked it, so we only used it when we "had" to for stir-fry. But now, gosh, the world of rice has opened!

 

Being from the south, you eat potatoes with EVERYTHING. My dh's family has chili and mashed potatoes (its actually very good) and I grew up eating spaghetti with homemade fries! Can't have a meal without a potatoe. I do the chili thing now, but not the spaghetti. My mother still makes it for herself.

 

Keep up coming, ladies. I'm tired of potatoes!

Kim

 

Potatoes are NOT uniquely Southern. Rice, on the other hand, is traditionally Southern coastal. DH is from a coastal region and never had potatoes until he moved away. Rice IS the starch where he is from.