Carrot-Ginger Rice

I love finding new side dishes. I get in these really weird cooking ruts where I don't feel inspired to cook anything, but finding a yummy new side dish can be just the thing to get me going again. We had this with the Honey-Soy Salmon recipe that I posted about a while back. Mmmmm. :)

Carrot-Ginger Rice

(from For the Love of Cooking Blog - I LOVE this cooking blog - it is the best!)

-1 cup basmati rice (I didn't have basmati on hand and just used my regular old stuff and it worked fine)

-2 cups chicken broth

-2 tsp olive oil

-1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced

-2 carrots, peeled and grated (to make this faster, just use matchstick/shoestring carrots)

-1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced

-1 clove garlic, minced

-sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

-dash of cayenne pepper

-1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Combine the rice and chicken broth together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover with a lid, and steam for 20 mins. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 mins before fluffing with a fork.

While the rice is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until tender. Add the carrot, ginger, and garlic to the onions and cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes. Add the rice to the mixture, along with the cilantro, sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, and dash of cayenne pepper. Stir gently so all ingredients are well combined. Serve immediately.