Spring is in the air and the markets are bursting with fresh produce. This time of year, you’ll find locally grown spinach, peas and herbs at just about any grocery store or farm stand. Today’s rice recipe is a perfect addition to any dinner, especially during busy week nights. Once you start playing around with various rice recipes, you’ll realize how silly it is to buy Rice-a-Roni or any other boxed rice mix. Just about all of them are loaded with salt and fillers. You are basically paying top dollar for salt and rice – two of the cheapest ingredients you can buy separately.
To boost the nutritional content even further, I added spinach which is loaded in iron and calcium. Americans should be eating dark, leafy greens several times a week and this cheesy rice is the perfect way to get the kids on board.
Your fork is waiting.
Brown Rice with Spinach and Herbs
Ingredients
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp butter (unsalted)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1 c brown rice (quick cooking)
- 2 c chicken broth (low sodium)
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 1 c green peas
- ¼ c grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ c fresh herbs of choice ((basil, mint, parsley, chives, etc.))
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pot, saute onion in olive oil and butter until tender – about 5 minutes.
- Add brown rice and saute 2-3 additional minutes.
- Pour in broth and bring to boil then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- When rice is fulling cooked, stir in spinach, peas and cheese.
- Cook until spinach is wilted – about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.