Recipe for Rice Pilaf with Crimini Mushrooms at Life's Ambrosia

Well after that sinfully delicious cheesecake I shared yesterday, I thought I would share something a little lighter, but just as delicious today. Those of you that have been following the blog for awhile have probably realized that I am a huge fan of rice. I could seriously eat it everyday. While I love plain white rice with a little soy sauce, this past week I was looking for something a little different so I decided to take the few crimini mushrooms I had in the fridge and make a rice pilaf. First, I sauteed the mushrooms, garlic and a shallot in melted butter and olive oil. Next, I added the rice and some vegetable broth, covered it and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until all of the liquid was absorbed. With a few grinds of fresh ground pepper, this made a delightful side dish.

I just love the flavor of mushrooms and tend to add them to a lot of my dishes. I picked crimini mushrooms over white button mushrooms in this recipe because they have a richer, earthy flavor. If you only have button mushrooms feel free to substitute them. While often more expensive, wild mushrooms such as chantrelles or morels would also be delicious in this recipe.

Serves 4

You will need:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups quartered crimini mushrooms
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups vegetable broth (I used Better than Bouillon)
fresh cracked black pepper

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and olive oil. When butter has melted add minced shallot and minced garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes.
Add crimini mushrooms. Cook 3 minutes or until mushrooms soften slightly.
Stir in rice, cook until rice becomes slightly translucent. Stirring occasionally to make sure rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. About 4 minutes. Rice may brown slightly.
Stir in vegetable broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and let cook 20-25 minutes.
Sprinkle with some fresh cracked black pepper. Stir. Serve.

Great along side some Oven Roasted Chicken or Roasted Pork Tenderloin. Enjoy!

Responses to "Rice Pilaf with Crimini Mushrooms"

“
Oh, that sounds so good…the kind of food I love
”

- Rita

“
looks great!
”

- zoe

“
Yum, I think I’ll try this with some basmati.
”

- Lindsay

“
Thanks Rita, I had a feeling you might like it! :)
Thanks Zoe!
Lindsay: I bet this would be great with basmati :)
”

- Deseree

“
I made this last night and it taste yummy! House smelled wonderful!
”

- Tori

“
Yay! I am glad that you liked it Tori. It made my house wonderful too :)
”

- Deseree

“
I’m like you, I could eat rice with everything (heck my Mom actually does!). Love mushrooms and rice so this is a perfect dish for me.
”

- Mrs. L

“
Mrs. L- Your mom sounds like my dad. He eats rice with everything! My uncle and aunt do too. When I was visiting them in CA this past summer they told me that they go through a couple HUNDRED pounds of rice a year. I like my rice, but that is quite a bit :)
”

- Deseree