Dom's Recipe Challenge & Sunflower Rice

From Williams-Somoma Kids Cooking ~ Scrumptious Recipes for Cooks Ages 9 - 13!  Dom at Belleau's Kitchen is having a recipe challenge, click here for details!  The challenge calls for taking cookbook # 18 off your shelf, turn to a page and cook a recipe.  First I had to select the shelf, I have a serious amount of cookbooks.  Next, from my Williams-Somoma shelf I counted to number 18, and low and behold this is the book, "Kids Cooking."  I laughed until I was beside myself and said "why not, it will be fun."

Then I randomly selected a recipe, and it was Sunflower Rice, how appropriate for Spring!  It was delicious, the sunflower seeds gave the rice a really nice and unexpected nuttiness.  If you wanted to jazz it up some more try adding dried cranberries, carrots, and some green pepper.  I didn't add anything extra, I followed the directions!

This dish went well with the grilled steak and veggies that I served for dinner that evening.  It would also go well with chicken or fish, I thought it was a pretty versatile side-dish!

Below is the recipe as typed from the kid's cookbook!

Ingredients

2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup brown rice

2 2/3 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup sunflower seed kernels

Salt

1. Put 2 tablespoons of the butter in the medium saucepan.  Set the pan on a burner of your stove, turn the heat on to medium and melt the butter.  Add the rice to the melted butter and stir with the wooden spoon until each grain of rice glistens with butter.  Pour the chicken broth over the rice, stir once. Let the mixture come to a boil.

2. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, turn the heat down to very low.  Put the lid on the saucepan and simmer until the rice is tender and has absorbed all of the broth, about 50 minutes. (To make sure the rice doesn’t burn, start checking after 40 minutes.  Be sure to lift the lid away from you, as the steam inside the pan can burn you.)

3. Turn the heat off.  Remove the saucepan from the stove.  Carefully remove the lid from the pan.  Add the Parmesan cheese and sunflower seeds and stir lightly.

4. Taste the mixture.  If you want a richer dish, add up to 2 tablespoons more butter.  Add enough salt to make the rice taste great to you.  Serve immediately.

One last thing, if you don't Follow Dom at Belleau Kitchen I highly suggest you do!  Not only is he a fabulous cook, he has a fantastic sense of humor!