Simple dinner recipes

The health benefits and nutritional values offered by rice are numerous. Firstly, it is considered as a good source of iron, protein and phosphorous. Secondly, it contains small amount of calcium and vitamin B. Third, it is known to provide calories and energy to our body. Also, rice is easily digestible and hence the calories are absorbed by the body. Other than this rice is good for diarrhea, nausea, indigestion, skin disorders, dysentery and high blood pressure.

Having mentioned rice health benefits and nutritional value now there is no reason for anyone not to prepare rice. Without a second thought grab a simple rice recipe and cook a delicious rice dish. Simple rice recipes can be found easily over the internet or from a nearby book store. All you need to do is to get a simple rice recipe and follow the given directions.

Although it might seem that cooking rice with perfection, especially for beginners, is an easy task but the truth is it is more than just adding rice to water and boiling. But don’t worry because if you follow the directions of a simple rice recipe accurately along with some useful tips you can prepare perfect and delicious rice dishes.

Here are some tips that are helpful especially for the beginners.
a.    Always rinse rice in water before cooking to get rid of starch.
b.    Use a rice cooker to cook rice.
c.    Use 1- ˝ cups of water for each cup of rice.
d.    Stale rice needs more cooking time as well as water than fresh rice.
e.    Never throw away leftover cooked rice. Leftover cooked rice is perfect for making egg fried rice.
f.    Soaking rice in cold water decreases the cooking time as well as gives fluffy and soft texture to it.
g.    Bring rice to boil with lid uncovered at medium heat. When boiling turn medium heat to low and place lid, but allowing steam to escape.

Whether you are preparing Continental, European, Chinese or Asian food, you will find variety of rice dishes so it is your choice as to which rice dish you want to prepare. There are uncountable simple rice recipes to choose from. Just search through your cookbook or the internet, get a simple rice recipe of your choice and prepare a rice dish. My personal favorite is Chinese rice dishes so at the end of this article you can find a simple Chinese rice dish.

Before moving on to the recipe, for Chinese food long grains are recommended, although medium grain rice can also be used. Given below is a simple rice recipe for Chinese fried rice.

Ingredients to be used are:
a.    Chicken, ham or pork( or any meat of your choice)- ˝ cup (finely chopped)
b.    Oil- 2 tbsp
c.    Mushrooms (sliced, broiled, drained)- 1 can/3oz
d.    Rice (chilled and old cooked rice)- 4 cups
e.    Green onion (finely chopped)-1
f.    Egg- 1(beaten)

First brown chicken (or any other meat) in oil that is hot. Then add all ingredients, except for the egg, to it and let it cook for about ten minutes over low heat. Stir continuously. Now add egg and let it cook for another 5 minutes.