Cilantro rice

[Robert Lauriston]

My wife made this last night. Addictive.

Cook rice as usual, with 1 tsp. salt per cup of rice.

For each cup of rice:

2/3 cup cilantro, loosely packed
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped scalions
1 jalapeno (or to taste)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp olive oil

Puree the above in a blender, add to the cooked rice, stir well.

[Procrastibaker]

I do a variation on this that calls for the rice to be mixed with toasted coconut and/or coconut milk. Yum.

[virtualfrolic]

I've been looking for a good cilatro rice recipe! Thanks for posting! Do you think it works with any type of rice, or a type in particlar?

[Robert Lauriston]

I think it'd work with any kind.

[dimsumgirl]

This sounds delicious! Thanks for posting it. Will try it for dinner tonight!

[megek]

Made this tonight - fantastic! Tangy and spicy and flavorful... thanks for the recipe.

[Problem Child]

Robert,

I tried your recipe last night and came out fantastic. Didn't have Jalapeno on hand so just used some dried chilli flakes. Ate it with simple grilled ribeye.

Thanks for the recipe.

[dimsumgirl]

This was not only delicious but visually pleasing as well. Great way to dress up rice! Thank you very much for sharing a new way to enjoy rice.

[Val]

Applause, applause...I made this tonight as a side dish for chicken mole! Robert, this reminds me of an Epicurious recipe for Korean Style Grilled Steaks with Spicy Cilantro Sauce and it is very similar to that recipe. I always told my sons I could eat that spicy cilantro sauce on a piece of bread I love it so much..but it's so much better and prettier on the rice! Thanks so much!

[Robert Lauriston]

The original came from some cooking magazine.

It tasted really familiar to me, took a long time to pin down the memory: Chipotle.

[dimsumgirl]

Chipotle's rice is what immediately came to mind. I love that rice!

[Spencer]

Are the onions, scalions, and jalapeno raw or cooked when before you puree them?
TIA,
Spencer

[Val]

The sauce ingredients are raw and lend fresh, bright flavors to the rice.

[Robert Lauriston]

Yeah, everything's raw, it gets wilted a bit from the hot rice but the flavors stay very bright.

[Spencer]

I have some red jalapenos growing in the back yard. Bet that will add to the brightness. Thanks- I will make this this weekend.

[Pincho]

I tried this and loved it, thanks for the recipe.

I added some coarsely chopped cilantor and scallion along with the puree, turned out great.

[tranewreck]

rick bayless has a related version of this green rice:
try adding pureed roasted or, as he recommends, boiled pablanos for another layer of flavor.

[Robert Lauriston]

This recipe was adapted from a cooking magazine's adaptation of a recipe from Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe. Their chef Katharine Kagel has a couple of cookbooks out. Here's her recipe (unless this blogger revised it):

http://madisonandmayberry.typepad.com...

[Kathi]

Thank you! I had a sit down fro 20 this weekend and gambled on your dish:) Raves all around! I thin next time, for fewer people, pine muts would be good, too.
But it was so easy to make the mix ahead and then just cook the rice while everyone was drinking........
Served w/ filet and roasted peppers/onion

[Val]

Robert, I've also had many raves over this dish from people I've given the recipe to, just to let you know!

[marthadumptruck]

I *just* made this. Used brown basmati rice.

It's fantastic.

Thanks, RL.

[studiocate]

I love Chipotle's rice so I will have to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing, Robert!

[GSDlove]

Does the measurement of "for each cup of rice" refer to the rice before or after cooking?

[Carb Lover]

It refers to the rice before cooking (ie, uncooked). This is a great recipe, although I remember adding a bit more lime juice and oil to get the ingredients to puree.

[Mr. Cookie]

This recipe is not too different from a Diana Kennedy Mexican recipe she calls green rice. But in that dish you saute the rice first over high heat until it begins to brown, then add milk (or a combination of milk and water) along with the other ingredients, including garlic, parsley and cilantro.

It's great stuff.

[nissenpa]

I can't wait to make this for DH this week--thank you. Sounds like you've made a lot of people very happy!

[Densible]

Do you think it would work tossed into angel hair pasta with bay scallops?

[Carb Lover]

Don't see why not. I would probably sub lemon juice for lime though.

[Densible]

I made it tonight over pasta and it was great. I did substitute lemon for lime juice and also added some chopped roasted tomatoes and some light coconut milk. Sauteed the scallops in a bit of oil and garlic.

[oakjoan]

Made it tonight. Wonderful. Also subbed lemon (Meyer) for lime. Also cooked rice in homemade chicken stock.
Really delicious. Thanks to RL's wife.

[nissenpa]

I served it reheated to company the other night. Nuked it in micro for two minutes and it turned out fine. They loved it. I garnished with cilantro and toasted pine nuts. Served with a mexican meatloaf.

[paulgardner]

A Warning: I made this last night and because recipe did not mention whether you seed or don't seed the peppers, I used the seeds of my peppers (my fault, I also used more peppers than called for); it was soooo spicy, I had to cook an extra 1/2 cup of rice to cut the heat a bit although still very spicy; I would suggest not using the seeds in the recipe; otherwise, it was very flavorful and good. I am actually surprised that with 30 replies, no one ever mentioned whether they used the seeds or not.

[sweetnspicy]

This sounds so good I'm going to try it tonight.

[sds]

I made this last night and its wonderful! didn't really measure ingredients, cooked basmati rice in chicken broth and added some garlic salt at the end. I'm bringing it to a Caribbean themed bbq, where it will be paired with some jerk chicken and curried goat!
will let you know how it turned out!! This dish is so versatile, it can go with so many cusines!
Thnaks!

[sweetnspicy]

I made it and loved it! I mixed it with a couscous blend from TJ's and had a little chicken with melted pepper jack! Oh yea, I added about 6 mint leaves and thought it added a nice touch.

[Amanita]

I, too, find this recipe to be such a winner I am considering in investing in disposable surgical gloves to seed the peppers fearlessly. My contact-lens-wearing eyes would appreciate it. I use some kind of greenish yellow Mediterranean pepper.

[Nachoman45]

My wife can't hadle spicy very well so I substituted a 1/4 cup of red bell pepper rather than the jalepeno. It turned out quite well. I will try with the jalepeno sometime, too (when i'm eating on my own).

Served inside of shrimp fajitas.

[redthong]

This was incredible. I started with 1 1/2 cups of dry rice so I made 1 1/2 times the sauce. To add a little crunch, about five minutes before the rice was done I cut the kernels off two ears of fresh corn and stirred that into the rice. Then when the cooking time was finished I stirred in the sauce. So good!