Best Fancy Not Fried Rice Recipes

WEEKNIGHT FANCY CHICKEN AND RICE

Weeknight Fancy Chicken and Rice image

This is a truly glorious one-pot weeknight meal. Feel free to experiment with the garnish, adding dried cranberries, hazelnuts, pine nuts or your own favorites. Ghee adds a nuttiness to the dish, but if you cannot find it, you can make it with unsalted butter using the chef Asha Gomez's method. Simply melt the butter in a pot over low heat. Let it simmer until it foams and sputters. Once the sputtering stops and the milk solids in the pot turn a khaki color, remove it from the heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. Strain remaining butter into a container, leaving behind any solids in the pot. Ghee keeps for up to six months in the refrigerator.

Provided by Sara Bonisteel

Categories dinner, weekday, one pot, main course

Time 50m

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

1/4 cup ghee (or use unsalted butter)
1 large yellow onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
6 green cardamom pods, crushed
3 whole star anise
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup sliced raw almonds, toasted
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Steps:

In a medium saucepan with a lid, melt ghee over medium-high heat. Add onions, cardamom, star anise and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and a very deep golden brown, about 15 minutes, lowering heat if necessary to keep from burning them. Add garlic and turmeric; cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, or until very fragrant. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes, stirring to coat chicken with the onion mixture.
Add stock and remaining salt, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Add rice, stir and cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the rice has absorbed liquid, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 12 minutes. Remove lid and fluff rice with a fork.
Transfer chicken and rice to a bowl, taking care to remove and discard cardamom pods and star anise. Garnish with apricots, almonds and cilantro. Serve at once.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 405, UnsaturatedFat 6 grams, Carbohydrate 47 grams, Fat 14 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 24 grams, SaturatedFat 6 grams, Sodium 458 milligrams, Sugar 4 grams, TransFat 0 grams

FANCY NOT FRIED RICE

Fancy Not Fried Rice image

I came up with this when planning a dinner where I would be serving two types of roasted chicken that suggested serving with rice. My mother does not care for plain white rice, so I wanted to make something people would eat without adding tons of calories and fat. After looking at what I had on hand, I came up with this - was pretty darn good as is and even better when I topped with the orange sauce from "ORANGE YOU GLAD YOU MADE THIS ROASTED CHICKEN?" Recipe #211548 - also went great with "CHINESE ROASTED CHICKEN" Recipe #135753. I must credit Daisy Martinez for the rice - this was the best and the easiest I have ever made, I followed her recipe except she calls for 1½ tbsp salt which I did not use). I am looking forward to doing fun thing with the left overs.

Provided by Sandy in Dayton

Categories Ham

Time 25m

Yield 6-8 cups, 6-8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

2 -3 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups basmati rice (but most basic white rice would work)
cold water, to cover the rice by 1-inch
3 ounces diced ham (I used John Morrell brand finely diced ham, as it is 96% fat free, and since it is fairly salty, I d)
3 green onions, chopped medium fine using both the white and green part
8 ounces peas (I used Le Suerur brand canned Very Young Small Early Peas - 50% less sodium)
diced carrot, mushrooms, corn, snow pea pods, chopped orange segments, snow peas, chopped cooked shrimp, anything
fresh peas, carrots or corn, will need to be blanched in boiling water until just tender
frozen peas, carrots or corn, will need to be blanched in boiling water until just tender

Steps:

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven, or a smaller vessel with a heavy bottom, over medium-high heat. Add the rice and salt, stirring to coat the rice with oil. When the rice starts to appear opaque and chalky, add enough cold water to cover the rice by the width of two fingers (about one inch). Bring to a rapid boil, and boil - without stirring! - until the water level reaches the level of the rice.
Don't walk away, it happens sooner that you think.
Stir the rice once and reduce the heat to low and cover (I turned off the heat, but left the covered pot on the burner for 25 minutes as I have an electric stove). Set the timer to 20 minutes and walk away.
Do not uncover, think about or, most definitely, stir the rice.
If you are using any fresh/frozen vegetables, now would be a good time to blanch in boiling water with up to ¼ teaspoon salt - when the water comes back to a boil - remove and drain
Chop onions and ham (if needed)
About 10 to 15 minutes after the rice has been covered.
Using a medium skillet over medium heat add ham and blanched veggies - after a minute of two add chopped green onions (you want them to be slightly softened, but not fully cooked) then when everything is heated add canned peas - you want everything warm, but not over cooked.
Uncover the perfect rice, add ham and veggies and fluff. You can leave the rice covered in a heavy pot and it will stay hot and in good shape for about an hour.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 324.4, Fat 7.4, SaturatedFat 1, Cholesterol 7.4, Sodium 221.5, Carbohydrate 54.1, Fiber 4.4, Sugar 2.9, Protein 10.2