I have a very tasty treat for you today!
First off, I would totally flunk in the school of food photography! Now that I look at it, I should have piled the rice on a plate and sprinkled with parsley…or something! Maybe I will get some tips from my niece Mindy about photographing food. Well, I hope it doesn’t take away from the fact that this was truly the best rice I have EVER eaten! We used to buy Near East Rice Pilaf but one day I went to make some and there was only ONE box! One box for this family just doesn’t cut it so off to the internet I went to Google “Near East Rice recipe”. Bam! Up comes this recipe for Copycat Near East Rice Pilaf! Not only is it super easy and takes only 20 minutes, but it is seriously delicious and waayyy cheaper than the boxed version! Erica is a food genius!!!
As usual, I made just a few tiny modifications for our tastes but nothing serious!
Copycat Near East Rice Pilaf
Author: Erica
Yields: 4-6 (as a side dish)
Ingredients
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1 cup long grain rice (I used Jasmine rice)
- 1/3 cup orzo pasta (you might be tempted to skip this ingredient but don’t…I
- 1/8 tsp tumeric
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt (I used 1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt so my thought is salt to taste)
- Bring broth, water and butter/oil to boil in a small pot.
- Add rice, orzo and spices and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 18 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork and serve.
Sounds good!