eclaire (what’s in a) name?

friends, i’m about to admit something very strange to you. i am in love with this rice. head over heels crazy about it. shout it from the rooftops obsessed. i know, i know, it’s just rice. but it is amazing.

the ingredients are probably items you buy on most grocery shopping trips, so you have them on hand.  but you probably didn’t think about combining them. because why would you put ginger, garlic, coconut milk, lime zest, and cinnamon into one pan with rice?

i now know that the reason why you’d combine all of those is to create a dish with the amazingly satisfying salty, spicy, citrusy, and sweet combination.

once you make this rice, i know you will be searching for more dishes to pair with this.  we’ve made a tofu veggie curry, and also served it with baked wildwood tofu and asparagus roasted with tangerine infused olive oil. and as i’m writing this, i’m thinking of thousands of other dishes we could make to have an excuse to serve this rice again. i think what i love most is that it reminds me of rice pudding, but it’s savory enough to be a dinner dish!

promise me one thing, though – when you make this rice, please try as hard as you can to refrain from licking the plate in public to get every last drop – it could get embarrassing!

coconut lime cinnamon rice

adapted from vegetarian times, april 2009
yields 5 servings

• 2t butter
• 2t finely minced ginger
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1c jasmine rice, rinsed
• 3/4c light coconut milk
• 1c water
• 1t sugar
• 1/2t salt
• 1 lime’s zest
• dash of pepper
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1. melt butter in medium sized pan, over medium heat
2. add ginger, garlic, and cinnamon stick and saute 2 minutes, stirring frequently
3. stir in rice and saute three more minutes, or until rice is translucent, stirring frequently
4. add coconut milk, sugar, salt, lime zest, pepper, and water
5. bring all ingredients to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and cover for 15 minutes
6. taste the rice, and if a little crunchy, add 2T more water and cook on low for 2 more minutes
7. take the pan off the heat, fluff with a fork and allow to sit, covered, for 5 more minutes
8. serve and try not to eat it all in one sitting! (creates 5 servings if you stick to a normal sized portion :) )