PASTA COOKING SIDE OPTIONS
Pasta Cooking, prep
Ingredient List
4 cups water
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. Italian herb mix
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups long grain brown rice
Steps to Prepare
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Preheat oven to 375°F. Adjust racks so sauce pot will fit in middle of oven
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Heat water and oil in sauce pot. Bring water up to a simmer. Add seasonings and rice. Stir, cover, remove from heat and place into the preheat oven. Set timer for 45-minutes.
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Remove from oven and tilt pan to see if water has cooked into rice. If you see water when you tilt pan, return to oven until almost all is absorbed. When done, remove from oven, "fluff" lightly with fork. Recover and hold at room temp for 5-minutes.
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Uncover and serve or spread out on large plate or pan to cool quickly. Then place in container, loosely cover and place into refrigerator.
CHEF NOTES
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This is a great basic rice you can use in a number of additional meals such as Stir Fry and Casseroles
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You can also change the flavor of the rice for side dishes by adding simple ingredients when you reheat it (like pico de gallo}
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If you don't like spicy, reduce or eliminate red pepper flakes
More Placement copy, prep
Ingredient List
1 lb. broccoli crowns or florets
1 gallon hot Water
1 Tbsp. salt
Ice water, as needed
CHEF NOTES
Steps to Prepare
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Use pot large enough so broccoli fills it no more than half way. Do in batches if needed. Add water to pot to fill it to 3/4 full. Add salt and bring water up to a rolling boil (you can cover pot for this stage)
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For broccoli crowns, trim ends and cut through stem so they will cook evenly. For florets, just cut larger pieces into smaller florets (see below). Have large bowl or container ready. Fill 1/2 full with ice and water BEFORE putting broccoli into water. (see below).
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Place broccoli into boiling water. Stir to make sure broccoli is completely covered and separated in water.
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You can use this technique for other green vegetables like green beans, kale and Swiss chard.
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Cooking too long will make green vegetables turn Army dull green. So, you must have water boiling before adding vegetables, don’t cover, and “shock” the vegetable in ice water to lock in bright green color.
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Blanched broccoli is easy to eat as a snack, use with pasta or casseroles or divide up & season and warm up in microwave for meals