Lemon Rice

Sometimes, I just get the urge to cook. In times like these, it isn't really about wanting to make a particular dish. It's all about the cooking - the chopping, the sauteing, the simmering, the aromas wafting from the kitchen into the rest of the house.

Problem is, my urge to cook doesn't always jive with my schedule. My work days are long. And between trying to fit a gym session in after work, potentially running errands or doing laundry, finding the time to on a weeknight is a challenge.

That's why something like rice is such a perfect food to make when I have the urge to cook. but not a whole lot of time to stand over a stove. Rice is something that has a short prep time, you can leave to cook without the need for too much watching (especially if you are owner of a rice cooker), and the end result is warm, aromatic and comforting.

 A few years ago, I went on the South Beach diet, which meant I had to greatly reduce my intake of carbohydrates - and kiss white rice goodbye. After an appropriate period of mourning the loss of soft, fluffy steamed white rice, I started to explore the world of brown rice. Because quite frankly, while I can easily eat less rice, I'm not sure if I could give up rice altogether.

Turns out, if you look hard enough, you can find a brown rice equivalent for any grain type of white rice. Thanks to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, I've found medium grain brown rice for risottos, brown jasmine rice to go with my Thai food, and, my new favorite, brown Basmati rice.

Rice is one of those foods that's easy to dress - you can put gravy on it, put it in soup, serve it on the side with fish, chicken, pile tonnes of stir fry on it. It absorbs flavors well, so if you're feeling adventurous, you can swap water for liquids such as chicken broth, milk or wine.

The evening I got the urge to cook, it was all about filling the house with aromas - onions sauteed in butter, white wine simmering, that starchy rice smell mingled with something light and fresh like lemon. I remember that my mother sometimes would saute the raw rice before cooking and I wanted to give it a try for this recipe. I'm not sure what sauteing does to the rice, but the nice folks at American Rice Inc. tell me that "If more separate grains are desirable, saute rice in a small amount of butter before cooking, then add liquid and cook as directed."

It only took about 10 minutes to chop up onions, saute the onions and raw rice in butter, and then add a little white wine into the pan to simmer. Chicken broth would replace water. Lemons would be juiced and added into the cooking liquid. While the rice cooked, I put on a Jillian Michaels DVD and proceeded to let her tough talk me through a workout that was way too difficult for me, but I was determined to finish.

While I tried to firm my abs and tone my arms, the smell of cooking rice, wine, lemon and onions filled the air. By the time I was done with the DVD, the rice had absorbed the cooking liquid and a pan full of shiny, slightly separated grains of rice greeted me.

Verdict on the impromptu rice recipe? Yum.

Lemon Rice 
Yields about 3 cups of rice

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup of uncooked brown Basmati rice
1/4 cup of wine
2 cups chicken broth
Juice of 1 small lemon (approximately 2-3 tablespoons)

*Optional: More lemon juice if you like your rice really lemony

1. Melt butter in pan, add onions and saute until onions are translucent, and turning brown.
2. Add rice to the pan and saute for an additional 4-5 minutes.
3. Add white wine, allow to simmer.
4. Add chicken broth and lemon juice.
5. Bring to a boil then reduce heat so that the mixture is simmering. Cover the pan.
6. Cook for about 30- 40 minutes.(Check on rice at 30 minutes.)
7. Rice should be done when all the liquid has been absorbed.

Tips
Brown rice tends to need more liquid and more cooking time. If you prefer a "wetter" rice, add more liquid and cook longer. I sometimes use 3 cups of liquid to 1 cup of brown rice.

With this recipe, I hesitated adding more lemon juice as I wasn't sure how sour the rice would turn out. If you're feeling more adventurous, you can increase the lemon juice to 1/4 cup. A happy medium would be to squeeze some fresh lemon juice to taste over the cooked rice.

Experiment with different varieties of brown rice - Whole Foods has a brown sweet rice, which is supposed to have a stickier texture (think sticky sushi rice). That could a fun variation of the recipe.