Stacey vs Rice

I suck at any dishes that include cooking rice. Every time we make anything the rice just doesn't taste like I think it should. There is a Risotto recipe I've been wanting to try for a while and finally got the chance to. It turned out OK. I mean it was good but my consistency wasn't quite right. I think I needed to let the rice sit a little longer and add less water. It tasted good but it was more like Risotto Soup rather than Easy Risotto.

Easy Risotto
(no pictures this time)

Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 25 minutes Stand: 5 minutes

1/2 cup chopped onion (1small)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2/3 cup uncooked arborio or long grain rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules
Dash black pepper
1 cup frozen peas (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese


1) In a medium saucepan cook the onion in hot butter until tender, add rice. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Carefully stir in water bouillon granules, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 20 minutes. (do not lift lid)

2) Remove saucepan from heat. If desired stir in peas. Let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Rice should be tender but slightly firm and mixture should be creamy. Stir in Parmesan Cheese.

My consistency of this was not creamy at all. Just plain soupy. It was very good though. I added some carrots instead of peas. I think next time I'll add some chicken too.

Last Monday Night...

We had Chicken Parmesan Risotto. I found this recipe out of a Kraft cook book I bought at a garage sale for .10 last summer.

Chicken Parmesan Risotto
(Sorry for the bad picture quality)


1 Tbsp. oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1-2/3 cups milk
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1 large tomato, chopped**

HEAT oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 min. or until lightly browned.
ADD soup, milk and cheese; mix well. Bring to boil.
STIR in rice and tomato; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Stir before serving.
** I substituted peppers and carrots for the tomato.



It was delicious. I had this for lunch the next day and it was even better.