Brown Rice and Mushroom Pilaf

With celiac came lots of rice dishes.  In fact, in the beginning, I remember living on rice.  I am sure that is not true but it felt that way.  You need to understand, I did not like rice, not in any shape or form.  Rice was icky.  It might have been the way, I cooked it.


After a short while, I knew I had to master the cooking of rice.  I was up to the challenge, I hoped.  I started experimenting with brown rice and came up with quite a few really good recipes.  Rice goes with everything.  That was my hint to add anything.  Onions, carrots, apples, nuts, zucchini.......anything.  Sauces were as versatile as the add-ons.


The one rice, I had made for years was fried rice.  It was terrible but it was my best rice dish.  This was the time to learn how to make a good fried rice and I did.  I was like a child, proud, taking his/her first step.


Pilaf was new to me.  It sounded so exotic.  How foolish, I was.  I made this dish and again, it worked.  I can only imagine what I did to the rice before this.  I have blocked it.

Brown Rice and Mushroom Pilaf    adapted from Kraft

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small  onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup chopped celery

1-1/2 cups  sliced mushrooms (about 4 oz.)

3-1/2 cups vegetable broth

a 1/2 cups   brown rice, uncooked

1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted

2 Tbsp.  chopped fresh parsley

Method:

In a medium to large saucepan, add rice and water.  When water boils, lower the flame and cook on low for 45 minutes.

 HEAT oil in medium saucepan on medium heat. Add onions and celery; cook 3 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

ADD mushrooms; cook 3 min. or until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. .

STIR into cooked rice; cover.  Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. Add walnuts and parsley; mix lightly.  This is rice, worth making and more so, rice worth eating.