Qigong Food of the Month: Great Green Rice
Jackie Wright May 2008
This is one of my favorite rice dishes to go with simple sautéed chicken breasts or pork chops, along with a simple salad of mixed greens or steamed broccoli. I was inspired to prepare this dish after reading the recipe in the last issue that used spinach in preparing a dish that is good for the liver and good to eat in the Spring. Enjoy!
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup minced green onions (about 3 onions)
1 cup minced parsley (either flat leaf or curly, I tend to use curly because it’s usually less expensive)
1 ½ cups finely chopped fresh spinach (no need to use the more expensive baby spinach for this recipe since you are chopping it up)
2 cups short-grain rice (I use whatever kind I have on hand, last time it was basmati which tasted fine though not quite as nice as a short-grain would be)
3 ½ cups hot chicken stock (I use canned low sodium chicken stock, preferably Swanson’s organic or Whole Foods’ house brand)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (okay I usually cheat and use pre-ground black pepper here; what can I say—I’m lazy)
About ¼ to 1/3 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, freshly grated for topping (don’t even think of using the pre-grated stuff in the green can here, it’s gotta’ be freshly grated)
Heat the chicken stock in a small saucepan on the back of the stove while you are chopping and prepping everything else.
Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and add the onions, parsley and spinach. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. While this is cooking remember to rinse the extra starch off your rice and let it drain. Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is translucent. Add 2 cups of hot chicken stock along with the salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add the rest of the hot chicken stock and cover and cook for about 10 more minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender and fluffy. Mix in the last 2 tablespoons of butter and the grated cheese.
Adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, by Jeff Smith; New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1986