Did anyone else read the title of this and a little jingle about "the San Francisco treat" run through their head? Yeah. Every time for me! Personally, I'm not just the hugest fan of boxed rice-a-roni in the US. I didn't really ever understand it all that much--why combine rice and pasta? I'm still not entirely sure. BUT I'm always looking for things my family will eat well. AND recently I was looking for things I could prep at home and bring with me to Thailand. I made several partial mixes and things using ingredients and spices I could measure out at home and then just pack for bringing. Anything to make meal time a little easier in a kitchen that is limited in what it has and is not my own. So, 3 or 4 homemade rice-a-roni mixes were one thing I did. My kids eat it well and its super easy to throw together and its really flavorful. Much better than anything out of a box I've ever had! Now you could just follow this recipe for your side dish, but you could also set yourself up a little assembly line and prep several of these at once to have on hand to make meal time a little quicker! I'll list a couple ideas for variations, but I'm sure the possibilities are endless! Please share your ideas with the rest of us!
Rice-a-Roni
3/4 cup rice
1/2 cup spaghetti noodles broken into 1/4 inch pieces
3 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
2 cups water
2 Tbs butter
Make Ahead: In a small ziplock bag, measure out all spices. In a separate bag, place rice and broken noodles. Store together. (You can see in the following picture I separated my rice and noodles into a separate little cheap bag that I knotted--when you make the rice up, you use the rice and noodles before you use the spices).
Directions: Melt butter in a skillet or pot that has a lid. Add rice and noodles and stir fry until noodles are just lightly browning on edges. Add spices and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 15-20 minutes like you would rice--until rice is tender and water is absorbed. If you are just making this up as you go, I'd recommend having all your spices measured out to throw in at once.
Variations:
The above recipe is for basic chicken flavored rice-a-roni.
Beef-flavored-- Simply substitute beef bouillon granules for the chicken.
Vegetarian-- Substitute vegetable bouillon granules for the chicken.
Cheesy-- Stir a 1/2 cup shredded cheese into the rice when its done cooking.
Butter and Herb-- Increase butter to 3 Tbs and add a 1/2-1 tsp favorite dried herbs. Maybe Italian seasoning or a mix of basil and oregano. Or thyme. Or rosemary. I think the possibilities are endless.
Garlicky-- Press a couple small garlic cloves into your butter/rice/pasta stir fry at the beginning for extra garlic flavor!
Notes: You could really use any type of small-ish pasta or broken pasta. I'd recommend one that has a 12-18 minute cook time similar to the rice. That way you don't end up with super soggy pasta in with your rice that takes nearly 20 minutes to cook. I made this (not in my kitchen) the other night and had to add extra water--the little electric burner I have cooked it out way faster than at home. Just keep an eye on it the first time you make it and adjust a bit if needed for your rice/stove heat, etc!
Rice-a-Roni
3/4 cup rice
1/2 cup spaghetti noodles broken into 1/4 inch pieces
3 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
2 cups water
2 Tbs butter
Make Ahead: In a small ziplock bag, measure out all spices. In a separate bag, place rice and broken noodles. Store together. (You can see in the following picture I separated my rice and noodles into a separate little cheap bag that I knotted--when you make the rice up, you use the rice and noodles before you use the spices).
Directions: Melt butter in a skillet or pot that has a lid. Add rice and noodles and stir fry until noodles are just lightly browning on edges. Add spices and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 15-20 minutes like you would rice--until rice is tender and water is absorbed. If you are just making this up as you go, I'd recommend having all your spices measured out to throw in at once.
Variations:
The above recipe is for basic chicken flavored rice-a-roni.
Beef-flavored-- Simply substitute beef bouillon granules for the chicken.
Vegetarian-- Substitute vegetable bouillon granules for the chicken.
Cheesy-- Stir a 1/2 cup shredded cheese into the rice when its done cooking.
Butter and Herb-- Increase butter to 3 Tbs and add a 1/2-1 tsp favorite dried herbs. Maybe Italian seasoning or a mix of basil and oregano. Or thyme. Or rosemary. I think the possibilities are endless.
Garlicky-- Press a couple small garlic cloves into your butter/rice/pasta stir fry at the beginning for extra garlic flavor!
Notes: You could really use any type of small-ish pasta or broken pasta. I'd recommend one that has a 12-18 minute cook time similar to the rice. That way you don't end up with super soggy pasta in with your rice that takes nearly 20 minutes to cook. I made this (not in my kitchen) the other night and had to add extra water--the little electric burner I have cooked it out way faster than at home. Just keep an eye on it the first time you make it and adjust a bit if needed for your rice/stove heat, etc!
Great idea. Gonna try this one soon. Thx for sharing. Can't wait to hear about the baby & share pictures with my kiddos!
ReplyDelete