Manageability – When life gives you lemons, make this.
Some people will tell you rice is a bland food. They’ll conjure up images of white mush in a wooden bowl, and cell phones in zip lock bags to fix water damage. But this Greek Lemon Rice from The Mediterranean Dish is.. well.. something else entirely. It’s out of this world good.
First off, this is VERY lemon-y, which for me was a great thing. It has a tangy sweetness, and the acid of the lemon is cut nicely by the broth. Also, the combination of textures with the orzo is absolutely fantastic. It’s a real melody. I might have to prepare more rice dishes combining orzo pasta, because they really are friends. Finally, the dill and parsley give you not only great color, but add a delicious herbal round-off. A perfectly balanced dish (if you love lemon).
We used it as a side dish to those crazy good chicken gyros from an earlier post. What a feast. Don’t let some jerk with a broken brain ever tell you rice is boring again.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups long grain rice (uncooked… for now)
- Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil (or, you know, whatever olive oil you want)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (just over 1 cup chopped onions)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup orzo pasta
- 2 lemons, juice of (PLUS zest of 1 lemon. You can use one of the juiced lemons. Actually, reverse these.)
- 2 cups low sodium broth (chicken or vegetable broth will work)
- Pinch salt
- Large handful chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp dill weed (dry dill)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Wash rice well and then soak it for about 15 to 20 minutes in plenty of cold water (enough to cover the rice by 1 inch). You should be able to easily break a grain of rice by simply placing it between your thumb and index finger. Drain well.
- Heat about 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large sauce pan with a lid (like this one) until oil is shimmering but not smoking. Add onions and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and orzo pasta. Toss around for a bit until the orzo has gained some color then stir in the rice. Toss to coat.
- Now add lemon juice and broth. Bring liquid to a rolling boil (it should reduce a little), then turn heat to low. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes or until rice is done (liquid should be fully absorbed and rice should be tender but not sticky.)
- Remove rice from heat. For best results, leave it covered and do not disturb rice for about 10 minutes or so.
- Hang a “do not disturb” door hanger on the rice, so housekeeping doesn’t wake it up.
- Uncover and stir in parsley, dill weed and lemon zest. If you like, add a few slices of lemon on top for garnish. Enjoy, you crazy bitch!