Twist on a personal favorite

Growing up, some of my favorite dinners were when my mom would make a roast. Though this was partially because I liked the steak, it was also largely due to the side dishes. In addition to salad, we would often get to enjoy double starches - baked potatoes and mushroom rice. I love mushroom rice. Last night, when Dave decided to grill up some steak, I began to fixate on it. Unfortunately, we had no mushrooms and I was not craving it quite enough to justify a trip to Safeway. So, I improvised and created a Toasted Pine Nut Rice dish.

1. Using a toaster oven or maybe the broiler, toast some pine nuts until they just begin to turn golden brown.
2. Melt about 1 T butter in a deep skillet with a lid and saute a few cloves of minced garlic and salt.
3. Meanwhile, heat 4 c. chicken stock (or water with bouillon, or just water with extra salt) in the microwave til hot, about 5-6 mins.
4. Add 2 c. uncooked rice to the pan and warm a couple minutes until it begins to lightly crackle.
5. Pour the warm stock into the skillet. Stir, let it come to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover the skillet, letting it simmer for about 15 mins.
6. Uncover and stir, adding in the toasted pine nuts and finely chopped green onions.
7. Place a paper towel across the top of the skillet (not touching the rice) and replace the cover. Simmer for about 10 mins.
8. Stir and serve hot.

In case you can't tell, I was pretty impressed with the way this dish turned out. The pine nuts added delicious flavor and the green onions gave it some inviting flecks of color. To make the mushroom version instead, all you need to do is omit the pine nuts, green onions, and garlic (though I don't see how garlic could hurt), and add in slivered mushrooms with the butter in step 2. I haven't been cooking dinner as much this year as I did last year (due in large part to living with roommates who enjoy cooking), but I'm in the mood to challenge myself and try some new things. On the horizon, perhaps: an Indian food feast?