Only when you set out to completely eradicate fake foods from your diet do you notice how deep the food-industrial complex has crept into your routines.  Growing up, my family would rely heavily on boxed rice mixes.  So much so, in fact, that as a child I literally didn’t know how to make rice without them.  Soon, I learned how to make plain white rice, but this was a far cry in terms of flavor from Herb and Butter Flavor Rice-a-Roni.

But let’s take a peak at just what makes that Herb and Butter Flavor so herby and buttery.  Well, there is butter (thank god), but there’s also partially hydrogenated palm oil, which, we are assured, adds “A DIETARY INSIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TRANS FAT.”  This really means that it’s less than 0.5 grams per serving (1 cup prepared) which means the FDA doesn’t require them to label it (20 bucks says it has 0.49 grams per serving).

There’s also two flavor enhancers (HYDROLYZED SOY PROTEIN and HYDROLYZED CORN GLUTEN), which are basically MSG, but are not required to be labeled as such.

So there’s the secret.  Trans fat and MSG.  But why should we care?  Why not go on enjoying our herby butteriness and be happy?  Because this is synthetic rice.  This synthetic rice uses a synthetic fat and synthetic flavors to create a synthetic food product that would be more comfortable in a laboratory than on a dinner plate.

So if we dump the San Francisco treat what do we do?  Make your own.  And here’s the good part: making flavorful rice is both easy and cheap.

Below is a master recipe for rice, with a few variations to match your meal.  Wholesome rice for a wholesome meal.  Now that’s a treat.

White Rice (Master Recipe)

Serves 4 (easily scales up proportionally)

• 2 Tbsp. fat
• 1/4-1/2 cup aromatic vegetable
• 1 cup long grain rice
• (1 tsp. dried herbs)
• (1-2 cloves garlic)
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (organic preferred)
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• (1-4 Tbsp. fresh herbs)

Heat the fat in a small or medium saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, add the aromatic vegetable.  Cook until soft and translucent.  Add the rice and stir until coated with the fat.  Add the dried herbs (if using) and the garlic (if using) and cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add the salt.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 18-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Fluff the rice with a fork, and stir in the fresh herbs (if using).

Variation: Rice with Provencal Flavors

I particularly like this one with fish.  Use olive oil for the fat, finely minced shallots for the aromatic vegetable, and dried herbs de provence for the dried herbs.  Omit the garlic and fresh herbs.

Variation: Rice with Lemon and Thyme

This one goes great with chicken.  Use olive oil for the fat, diced onion for the aromatic vegetable, and either dried thyme or fresh thyme for the dried or fresh herbs, respectively.  Garlic is optional. Squeeze in a little lemon juice at the end.

Variation: Mexican Rice

Use vegetable oil for the fat, diced onion for the aromatic vegetable, use the garlic.  Add about 1/3 cup of diced tomato (canned or fresh) and 1/2 Tbsp. tomato paste, with the garlic.  You can also add some minced jalapeno here, if you like.  Omit the dried herbs.  Use cilantro for the fresh herbs.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 6:55 pm and is filed under Lots of Pulp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.