Natasha's Famous Rice

This is one of the best recipes that has ever been shared with me. My good friend, Natasha, invented this delicious and healthy dish. Everyone I have made it for absolutely loves it, so I thought I would share it with you. One of the greatest things about this recipe is that you can tailor it to suit your own tastes and change the ingredients to include whatever you have on hand. I will start with Natasha's original recipe, and add a few of my variations at the end.

Ingredients:

Rice - 2 cups

onion - one red

carrots - three large ones

olive oil (or vegetable oil) - enough to saute the veggies

salt

pepper

bay leaves

water

Preparation: Chop onions and shred carrots. Warm up the oil in the big pot (I use a dutch oven.) Add carrots and onions to oil and cook until golden. Add rice and water (enough to cover the rice). Add salt, pepper and bay leaves to suit your taste. Place pot into oven, and cook at ~ 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (until rice is done).

Variations: If you want to add meat, chop it into small pieces and saute it until done with the veggies in the oil. Other tasty additions: chopped tomatoes and cilantro, asparagus (or any other veggie you love), red pepper flakes (one of my favorites! Yummy!). It also turns out well with brown rice.

*It is possible to do all the cooking on the stove top, but having tried it both ways, I think the flavors are more well blended when it is cooked in the oven for a while.

I'd love to hear how you liked this dish and about the individual touches you add to it!

Enjoy!