Garden Rice
I love brown rice. I would rather use it than potatoes, but time sometimes makes it impossible to use for dinner. Whenever I make brown rice, I make a couple of servings at a time. One for now, and one for later. That way you have some on hand and it is easy to use for a meal. My husband does not like rice, so this recipe is for one immediate meal and one for later.

My measurements are not exact. I put rice in a pan when it looks like I have enough and I am one of those pinch here and pinch there kind of cooks. It is so much more fun to be free to add more mushrooms this time, or add only red peppers if the fancy strikes you. If you add fresh peppers, add extra time to recipe for peppers to soften up.

You will need the following items:

One cup brown rice, cooked
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
½ cup of frozen peppers (I use the green, red and yellow variety pack)
Handful of frozen peas
½ cup of sliced fresh mushrooms
Olive oil

The olive oil is used to keep the rice from sticking to the pan. I use cast iron skillets for the iron content, so I use a little more oil than someone using a non-stick pan. If you are using a non-stick pan, you don’t need to season the pan, but you will need 1 teaspoon of oil to keep the rice from sticking together. Experiment. You may need less; you may need more depending on the rice

In the warmed skillet, add garlic and oil. Cook the garlic for just a minute or two to soften it. Add rice. Rice needs to be warmed for approximately 5 minutes on low. You don’t want to fry the rice; you want to warm it up to mix with the vegetables. When the rice is not clumpy any more and it is getting hot, you can then start adding the vegetables.

The mushrooms are added next. Cooking mushrooms is not an exact science. You will cook the mushrooms and rice together until the mushrooms are softened. Approximately 5 minutes on medium. Stir the rice often to make sure you are not burning it. The frozen vegetables are added slowly. You want to thaw them but not cook them until they are too soft. Maybe 2 minutes.

The rice is done when it is thoroughly hot, the mushrooms are soft and yummy and the frozen pepper and peas are hot and still firm. Serve immediately.

Nice thing about this rice is that you can heat up later and it still just as tasty the next time.I sometimes get crazy and right at the end will add sliced olives or minced carrots just for color and added punch.

If you are not a garlic lover, the garlic is not a necessity. I just happen to love garlic. If you cut it down to one clove, it won’t be as intense. If you choose to do without it, the recipe will still be very good.

If you want some garlic but don’t like the amount that cloves produce, use a knife that has been cutting garlic and use that knife to cut other vegetables. You would be surprised how much garlic flavor you get. Or take a clove and rub the plate or inside of bowl, you will get the flavor without overwhelming yourself.

Tips on garlic. Can’t get that clove out of its skin?? Take a flat bladed knife, lay it side down on a clove of garlic and press hard. For me, I lay one hand on flat knife blade and punch hard with other hand. Out comes the garlic.

Or easier still, get out the old food processor and that will punch them out in a jiffy. I have a very small food processor that is perfect for garlic. You will find them at stores like Walmart or Kmart. A knife is cheap and it works, but the food processor is less messy.

Garlic should be fresh, and the cloves should be firmly pressed on the bulb. If there is any discoloration at all, don’t purchase it. Keep it in the refrigerator in a baggie for future use. Garlic can lose its flavor if left too long.

- posted by Shar @ 12:10 AM