Tantalizing Thursday

Welcome in to Tantalizing Thursday on Chief 187 Chatter. After a few weeks of sinful desserts, I’m changing direction to a fantastic side dish that pairs perfectly with beef, chicken, pork, seafood, or as its own meal. Made of pasta, rice, and bulgur wheat, this dish is commonly known as Pilaf, but is far more wonderful than any supermarket-boxed version could ever be. Try it once and you’ll be hooked!


Rice Pilaf
187 Family Recipe

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter
½ cup uncooked brown rice
½ cup cracked bulgur wheat
¾ cup or 1 ½ coils whole-wheat thin spaghetti
3 cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)

Directions:

Sauté the uncooked rice and bulgur wheat in the butter on medium high heat in a large pan. Once the butter is melted and the mixture becomes browned, nutty and aromatic (5 minutes or so) add the spaghetti broken into approximately 2” sized pieces (by hand) and stir in while pouring broth. Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer on medium heat for approximately 15-20 minutes, until broth is absorbed and the pilaf is tender.

Serves 6. Double to serve up to 12 or for leftovers.


Butter is recommended to keep the integrity of the dish; it simply gives peak flavor to the ingredients used. We use bouillon cubes reconstituted with water for our broth. It is easy to keep on hand and reasonable. Although the pilaf can be made with all of the “white” grains, the brown ones are more flavorful and healthier and add a nutty background to the dish that their white counterparts do not. We get our bulgur wheat at a health foods store and keep it in the freezer. It need not be defrosted, as it doesn’t freeze; storing it there keeps it fresh and free from critters. This side dish is truly a winner! Serve with grill food or any favorite meal and it’s a healthy, can’t go wrong accompaniment to the main course. Add a salad and dinner is done!