lemon rice

Leo and I vowed that we'd never make plain rice as a side dish again, because there's no excuse for making plain rice, unless you have no onions, garlic, shallots, or scallions around. Add another flavor accent (in this case, lemon) and rice is a special side dish to be savored as much as the main course (in this case, apple-ginger chicken).

1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 1/3 cups basmati rice
1 tsp fresh ginger, pureed
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 3-inch strips lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt

In a medium saucepan, stir together onions and oil. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Add rice and ginger, raise heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Sitr in chicken stock, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low and cook, covered, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, 15 to 17 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Serves 4.

257 calories per serving: 5 g protein, 1 g fat, 55 g carbohydrate; 271 mg sodium; 1 mg cholesterol.