It shouldn’t surprise you to know we don’t always have a gourmet meal every night. Most evenings our meal is rather plain, with meat some sort of vegetable or salad and a side dish. This type of meal is easy to put together quickly, especially if you keep a few staples on hand. Unfortunately, it can get pretty boring. One way to “liven up” the meal is to pick one component and make it stand out from the rest of the plate. Recently, instead of plain old white rice, I made a pistachio thyme pilaf to complement the chicken and green beans served.
A pilaf is a rice dish where seasoned broth is used instead of water to cook the rice. Frequently meat or vegetables are stirred into the rice as well. Sometimes you’ll come across a pilaf that’s finished in the oven, but ours will be cooked entirely on the stove. I used chicken broth, thyme and chopped pistachio nuts to flavor my pilaf. Since this is a method for cooking rice, it’s easy to make substitutions. You could easily turn this into a one pot meal by adding some sort of protein.
I’m perfectly aware there are several product lines of rice in a pouch or box, but really, it’s so simple to make at home where you can control the seasonings and other ingredients. I encourage you to try making your own. Plus I can almost guarantee there’s no pistachio thyme pilaf available commercially. I hope you’re willing to Go Boxless and give it a try.
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- pinch red pepper flake
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 2 teaspoons if using fresh
- 1 cup broth
- 1 cup medium or long grain rice
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachio more or less
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan with a tight fitting lid, saute the onions in the olive oil and pepper flakes over medium heat until they start to soften and change color.
- Add the rice all at once and stir until well coated with the oil. Continue stirring until the rice changes color. It will become almost translucent with the hard center in the middle of the grain.
- Stir in the broth and thyme. Allow to come to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and cover with the lid.
- Cook for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Stir in the pistachios before serving.
I want you to notice, I’ve arranged the plate according to the principles we discussed in this post on portion sizes. Half the 9-inch plate is filled with green beans, a quarter with the pistachio thyme pilaf (I used a half cup measure) and a quarter for the chicken. The chicken was a breast half that had been filleted the long way in order to make 6 quick cooking portions per pound. I also served a cut up orange and a glass of water to complete the meal which was filling and satisfying.
Have you made a pilaf or similar dish from scratch before? How did it turn out?
What a great flavor combo! My husband would love this!
I love that you took a plain side dish and turned it into something fancy and yummy. Herbs and nuts are so great, and the combination you have here is fabulous.
Thanks for this great idea!
My kids love Rice Pilaf. Pinning.
Yum! I love the flavor that thyme and pistachios impart to the rice. Surely livens up the meal!
I love finding new simple and flavorful side dishes and your pilaf looks yummy!
I live this recipe! My family loves pistachios, so I am sure they would gobble up this recipe.
I love a nut added to rice, perfect texture and flavor for me!!
I love pistachios and I think they are great match with rice!
I love pistachios – they are my favourite nut. But I don’t use them in my cooking enough.
I love them too, right out of the shell.
Rice pilaf is a great recipe, it’s so flexible, you can add lots of great flavors. I like adding the pistachios. This is a great side dish for Mother’s Day brunch.
I agree that it surprises most people that food bloggers don’t have a gourmet meal every note. It is nice t take a breaks and have a simple meal sometimes.
The gourmet meals made for the blog are our “change of pace” 🙂
I love adding nuts to my rice pilaf, this sounds delicious
I almost always have pecans and almonds in the freezer, the pistachios make a nice change.
I love all the ingredients you use in this yummy looking pilaf!
What a beautiful and simple rice pilaf! I love that you’ve added in pistachios. I think my kids would love this.
Thanks! They make a nice change 🙂
What a lovely side dish that looks delicious!
I add pistachios to rice for quick lunch. Love the idea of serving it for Mother’s Day Brunch. Pistachios and so healthful.
Pistachios are probably my favorite nut.
I agree. Now that pistachios come already shelled, I use them more often. Otherwise Almonds are my “go to” nut.
I love Pilaf!!! And would love to try it with Pistachios (my hubby’s favorite)
Pinned and will be sharing on FB later this afternoon!!
Hugs
Thanks for pinning and sharing, Evelyn 🙂
I love a good pilaf! And thyme is one of my favorite herbs. Never thought to put pistachios in a pilaf, though — wonderful idea. Thanks so much.
I imagine any nut would work just as well, but I did like the flavor quite a bit 🙂
This looks and sounds so good! I especially like that every ingredient is wholesome, can be organic and GMO free, with no chemicals to extend shelf life. I think I will try this one tomorrow night. Thank you for the recipe! 🙂