JASMINE RICE W/ BACON & VEGETABLES

People - this is sooooo good. I think I say that about everything I have posted so far, but it's true! What's even better is that this is so easy to make and so easy to adapt to what you have on hand. There is no "real" recipe since it can be changed to match your own personal likes. The quantity can also be easily adapted to how many people you need to feed, just change up or down the amount of rice, meat and vegetables you use.

Start off by cooking your bacon. If you have never cooked your bacon in the oven, I HIGHLY suggest you give it a try. I will never fry bacon in a skillet again. I line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean up) and lay the bacon out in a single layer. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon you are using.



While the bacon is cooking, start some butter in a pan (I used 1/2 stick for 1 1/2 cups of rice).



This is the rice I use. Jasmine rice is really so wonderful, please don't substitute minute rice with this dish, use Jasmine rice!!



Once the butter is melted and foamy, add your rice.



Your rice should look like this:



Once your rice is nice and brown, add the required amount of liquid according to the rice package directions PLUS 1/2 cup more. The vegetables with soak up some of the water, so you will need a bit more. Also add any seasoning you like. I used salt, pepper & hot sauce. Cover and cook rice.



You are ready to add the cut vegetables of your choice now. I used purple onion, zucchini, celery & carrots. Again - this is so versatile, add what ever veggies you have on hand or that you like.



Add these to the rice while it is still cooking, re-cover and cook until rice is done (about 20 minutes). Make sure to check and see if you have enough liquid, if it looks a little dry, add a little more in 1/4 cup amounts until the rice and veggies are nice and tender - but NOT RUNNY!



This is what it should look like. Looks good, huh?!



Now you are ready for the bacon. Any sort of meat will work for this, left over chicken, sausage, ham, turkey, shrimp - the possibilities are endless! I recently did one with bacon and leftover chicken strips from KFC and let me tell you - I couldn't stop eating it.



Chop the bacon. I like to keep my pieces fairly large, I want to be able to taste the bacon when I'm eating it, not just get a hint of it.Add the bacon at the very end and give it a good stir and you are ready to serve it!



Spoon it in a bowl and you are ready to go. This is great because I think it works well as a side dish OR a main dish.


Now quit trying to smell your computer screen and go make you some!!