Rice a different face

Hahahha so as promised today's tip segment! Now this tip comes from my house to yours! It is a little strange, but effective. So you love your white rice, your Spanish rice, your sticky rice and so on and so forth. We know rice as one of those blank canvases that is fantastic at absorbing flavor!

Well have you ever gone into your cabinet and pulled out your chili powder or your garlic powder and found it all clumpy and your like wtf?? Well that is because there is moisture in the air and it cause it to clump. Kinda like when you are trying to shake paprika into a steaming pan of chili, the moisture makes it bind up!

Now some states have more moisture than others, like TX. I lived there as a kid, and besides bad hair days (I looked like Bozo the clown) our spices would all clump together, even our salt! I grew up not knowing any different until we moved from TX, I though everyone had a salt shaker on the table that was a quarter of the way filled up with rice. YES I SAID RICE!! LOL, I remember doing this when I got my apartment here in AZ back in the day. My BF (Jared) was like wtf, why is there rice in our salt shaker? Hheheheh well in AZ for the most part the humidity is low and there is no need for the rice, but well as we all know childhood habits die hard!!

So the tip well get your rice out, and fill your shakers a quarter full of rice. You need to make sure that the holes in your shaker are small enough so that the rice doesn't come out when you are using it! Now if you can't find a shaker with small enough holes, don't panic! Just unscrew the shaker lid, get a piece of cheese cloth and cut out a circle that is the size of the lid. Then put the cheese cloth in the lid and viola, spices come out rice stays in! Best of all no more clumps!!


Ok, ok so you all want a fast rice recipe don't you? Well I have one for you. You want to dress up that plain ole white rice here is what you do:

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain rice
2 cups water
2 tsp salt
1 8 oz container Mango Papaya Salsa ( can be found at: A Thyme To Bee Comforted )
1 Large lemon zested and juiced
.250 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning

So in a medium sauce pan bring the 2C of water and 1 tsp of salt to a boil. Once water is boiling add 1 cup of long grain rice. Turn heat down to medium low and cook until all water is gone, about 20 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl add additional tsp of salt, lemon juice and zest, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and Italian seasoning. Give it a quick whisk, and then while still whisking slowly pour in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Once the consistency has thickened and it looks like a vinaigrette you are done! If you don't want to whisk add all of the ingredients except EVOO into a food processor or a blender. Give it a quick pulse. Then put it on low and slowly stream in the EVOO, until it thickens up!

Now add the vinaigrette to your rice and let it cook on low for a couple of minutes, until the rice soaks up some of the Vinaigrette. Then turn off the heat and add in the Mango Papaya salsa and viola you are done!!

Pare it with a nice chicken breast and you have a healthy and tasty meal!!

Well I hope you give my tip a try and give the above recipe a try! I am sure you won't be disappointed!! Well I am outtie for the day, tomorrow is New Years Eve so I have shopping to do! We will be dining on Wantons, Baby Back Ribs, and maybe some spring rolls! I hope you all have a SAFE and Happy New Year!! I will see you all back here in 2009!!!!

**Hugs
Angelica