One of the most common side dishes people tend to lean on is rice. Rice can be a great backbone of just about any meal. Rice does contain a lot of starch; so doing our best to make sure our consumption of rice is in moderation and is made the healthiest it can be is key. We are big fans of brown rice – huge. When in doubt, go brown. Seriously – if they ask white or brown rice? The answer is brown. Great, glad we got that cleared up!
If you think brown rice is boring – let us shamelessly plug in our cilantro lime and garlic rice side dish below. ‘Brown rice’ and ‘boring’ will never be in the same sentence again!
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1/3 cup of finely minced cilantro
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 3 Tbs. fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 2 cups water
Begin by adding the olive oil to a medium-sized pot and heat on medium-high. As the olive oil warms and sizzles, slowly add in minced garlic and sugar.
Pour in brown rice, cilantro and lime juice into the heated mixture. Allow to sauté for two minutes.
Immediately add in water, one cup at a time slowly, and allow the mixture to come to a boil to thoroughly boost the cooking the rice. Put the heat on simmer for 30 minutes. Rice should be plump and soft – you can taste test the rice itself anytime to ensure it is cooked to your liking. Add on 3-minute increments to finish cooking rice if not tender enough.
Once your rice mixture is finished cooking, drain pot into strainer. Briefly run cool water over strainer, shake and place mixture into medium-sized bowl.
Garnish your dish with black pepper, fresh cilantro, and fresh lime slices. (Squeeze a bit more juice on top of cooked rice, if desired!)
