The Month of Meals Continues

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      As I said, last night I was going to make Spanish Rice with Shrimp.  And like all the other meals in this plan, it was very good.  From the time I started cooking, until the time we sat down to dinner, it was about 30 minutes.   If I didn't have all those pre-made ingredients it would have taken significantly longer to make.

     To make this dish, I needed some of the rice pilaf, some tomato sauce and some of the peppers and onions (this of course was all in my freezer).  The only additional ingredients I needed were shrimp, garlic, smoked paprika (which if you haven't tried, you should, it has great flavor!) a lemon and some parsley for garnish.

     Then to round out the meal, I sliced some Italian bread that I had on hand, drizzled both sides with olive oil and put it under the broiler.  I flipped it once and let both sides get nice and toasted. Delicious!

                                          This is my finished dish, doesn't it look good?



     This is the recipe for the rice pilaf as found in Everyday With Rachael Ray:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 onions cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• salt and pepper
• 3 1/4 cups long-grain rice
• 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 4 bay leaves
• 16 oz frozen peas

In a 7qt dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook, stkirring often, until golden brown and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add 2 1/4 cups water, the chicken broth, bay leaves, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and bring to a boil.  Stir, cover, lower the heat and simmer, undisturbed, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.  Quickley scatter the peas on top, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.  Uncover and let coll completely, tossing once or twice.  Discard the bay leaves.

Once the rice is cooled, package in 1-cup portions and put in small freezer bags, squeezing out the air and flattening.  You should have about 15 cups of rice.