So I’ll find myself with some time this afternoon to properly set up a couple nice salmon steaks for the wife and I. I’m bored with my usual side dish choices, but I have some rice and I’d like to mess it up a bit. Any help?
I’ve got a pantry fairly well stocked with some stock (ha!), spices, and assorted crumbly things.
I have to run out in a bit for a few hours, so I know when I check back here, I’m going to have some yummy options, right?
It’s not exactly quick, but the baking of it is what takes the most time!
Oven Rice
* 1 stalk celery
* 1 small onion
* 1/2 green pepper
* 1 carrot
* 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
* 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
* dash ground red pepper
Chop all vegetables finely. Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart baking dish, stirring well. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
I make rice either with chicken broth instead of water or I just pour a bunch of spices (usually italian blends with lots of garlic powder) and slap a big pat of butter in the water when cooking the rice. Takes no longer than cooking plain white rice, and is oh so tasty.
How about adding a bit of saffron and some raisins. Saute some sliced almonds in butter and add them at the end. Or leave out the raisins, if their cooked, bloated bodies don’t appeal to you.
Kick up your rice by sauteing (sp?) it in olive oil and butter first. Fresh parsey or thyme, some lemon zest added at the end (you can also add lemon juice to the liquid). Slivered almonds to give it some crunch.
I also like nonacetone’s recipe, but would again recommend lightly sauteing the rice and vegetables before adding the liquid. If you have an oven-proof 4 - 5 quart dutch oven, I’d use that over the baking dish. Oh, and use fresh garlic over garlic powder. Even there, you can never go wrong with fresh parsley for color and slivered almonds or lightly toasted pignoli nuts for crunch at the end.
That’s the way to do it. Or, the good old pilaf method – it really refers to frying the dry rice grains in fat prior to cooking it, but is often augmented by adding sweated onions pre-cooking and such ingredients as peas post-cooking. I use about 2.75 cups of water per 2 cups dry rice; 1.5/1 cup. The ratios are critical for any kind of rice. Cook somewhat aggressively, medium-med-lo flame for 12-15 min; let rest without opening cover for 15-20 min. I find it doesn’t matter if you lift the lid during cooking, using my method, but don’t lift the lid during the resting period, which is critical. Salt before cooking. I think people are using brown rice a lot for things like fish these days – requires experimentation on your own range to avoid burst grains and the correct texture. I’d prefer to limit rice fanciness to herbs, salt, aromatics like onions or celery – that just seems to be the way it’s done and the way most people like it. Also, the moisture content of many additions can impede proper cooking of rice.
Spanish rice goes really well with salmon. There are a lot of different ways to make it, so look around for a recipe that seems doable based on the ingredients in your fridge and the time you feel like dedicating to it. Here’s one that’s baked, which looks good, but since the rice is pre-cooked and not browned before mixing with all the other ingredients, it doesn’t seem as “authentic.” Here’s a really simple version that uses salsa instead of all the fresh ingredients. And this one is more like the recipe I usually follow, but I add cumin for a bit of a spicy kick and don’t add the mushrooms (mushrooms in Spanish rice? YUCK!).
Holy cow, my super easy/lazy/cheap Spanish Rice recipe is published??? I scandalized my mexican mom one day by doing just that - brown some rice, then dump stock and jar salsa in til it cooked out.
And I always felt guilty for it!
So, I came back, checked out some ideas and went to the store for some chicken stock, fresh parsley, scallions, celery and peas. I’m going to wing it from that.
I saved nonacetone’s recipe, that souds like a weekend effort, but sounds great.
A simple, quick rice recipe
Voilá! It’s simple, it’s quick, it’s rice, and it’s a recipe. What more could you ask for?
Damn, I was gonna post instructions on Minute Rice, but that’s even simpler. 
Not actually a rice recipe, per se, but when I have salmon steaks I like to grill them, put them onto a bed of rice, then top the whole shebang with a medley of vegetables, fine chopped onion, green onion, leek, shallot, garlic, red and yellow or orange bell peppers sauteed until soft in olive oil with just a smidge of butter for flavor, seasoning with crushed red pepper and this amazing citrus thyme I grow in the front yard. Basil is a good substitute, or any fresh herbs you might have around, I’ve used sage and rosemary, but use those sparingly as they’re a bit overwhelming for fish. The contrast of the intense melange of veggie flavor with the utterly simple flavor of grilled fish and plain rice is incredibly pleasing and it looks pretty, too.
My wife’s family recipe for Mexican/Spanish rice is a bit like Shayna’s “really simple version” but uses Rotel tomatoes, chopped onion, and garlic to taste. (The Rotel brand is stewed tomatoes with peppers and onions.) Count the tomatoes as about half their volume of liquid, and put in stock or water to match the rice.
You did say you were “bored with the usual side dishes” first I think…and then something about rice and that’s just not good.
Next time, go outside the boundaries, expand the horizon and all that.
Salmon, delicious. It is in fact how you treat this light and so royal cuisine that ends the meal in a crescendo.
In short.
1st, explore Basil in a light manner, and never let go of your friend lemon…not2much
2nd, and you won’t know until you have it, a just ripe avocodo…peeled, stripped and quartered, braise this lightly in olive oil, served on side with a soft flavored cheese strip resting , your choice
3rd, always start any fish meal with a light salad, dressing your choice but nothing strong, bread and soft butter here as well
4th) as the Salmon is in fact the same as a steak on this plate, you may treat it as such, veggies, etc. I would say Asparagus and Hollandaise, me I love Brussel Sprouts in garlic oil, but that’s just my shame…for the thread sake, maybe with rice