Green and White Rice

Quick note: Cooley4, please e-mail me at imperialhighness@hotmail.com! You won the Kim Chee Casserole 150th Post Contest!

I love rice as much as the next Asian person, but sometimes I get a little tired of plain old white rice. It tastes plain, it looks plain, and it's boring as heck to photograph. But it's simple to jazz up this plain Jane dish! (Sorry, Jane.) With just a few herbs and with the help of some frozen peas, you've got yourself a side dish that's fresh and easy.

I used basmati rice for this because I love its nutty flavor. But if you've got regular white rice, don't sweat it.

I measured out a cup of rice and 1 3/4 cups of water (standard basmati rice-to-water ratio. If you're using regular rice, use 2 cups of water. I sprinkled in a pinch of salt too.

A tablespoon and a half of butter goes in, too.

I turned the burner on to medium and let the rice come to a boil. I reduced the heat to low and popped on the lid to the pot. Then I left the rice alone for about 20 minutes.

While the rice was cooking, I got to work on the herbs. I'm using fresh chives and parsley. The peas I'm using have mint already in them, but if you've got fresh mint, a single leaf or two will do wonders.

I love summer; that means I can have fresh chives. I don't often use them in the winter because I have to buy them from the store. Our cats make it nearly impossible to grow fresh herbs indoors. No matter where we place them, they find out how to get there and then nom the poor herbs to death.

I also love parsley, but I buy it year-round.

Here are the peas I'm using. They're from Trader Joe's. You could definitely use regular frozen peas, and, like I said before, just add a tiny pinch of fresh (or dried) mint to the rice.

Once the rice has cooked, fluff it with a fork (making sure not to scratch your pot's nonstick finish, if it has one) and add your herbs and peas. The heat from the rice should be enough to warm your peas.











In what, 30 minutes? you've made yourself a fresh and light summery side dish!

Recipe: Green and White Rice

1 c. basmati rice
1 3/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. butter (increase to 2 tbsp. if not using minted peas shown in recipe)

1 tbsp. fresh chives, minced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1-2 small leaves mint, minced (if not using minted peas)
1 c. frozen peas


In a medium-sized pot, combine rice, water, salt, and butter. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover pot, and let cook for 20 minutes.

Toss cooked rice with chives, parsley, mint, and peas. Serve!