I’ve been sitting at my desk working since 7:30 a.m., and it’s now 3:00 p.m.  It’s cold outside, my fingers feel like icicles.  Why hasn’t anyone invented a heated keyboard and mouse?

My go-to recipe when I’m in a rush and feel like some comfort food, is my mother’s Rice Pilaf.  An eight year old could make this for dinner!  It’s soul-satisfying food.  When I was growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s, my mother worked full-time – no Mad Men life for us – and this was one of her favorites in the days when there was no Boston Chicken or Heinen’s prepared foods to rely on!

This week, I started diving into Michael Symon’s new cookbook - a Christmas present from my older son – and learned one valuable lesson … season your vegetables while they’re sweating, people!  I tried it with this recipe, and I liked the result.  I also learned from Michael Ruhlman (http://bit.ly/5VES6O); that I’m not so busy or so stupid, that I can’t throw a healthy dinner together from scratch – at least a few times a week.

A few more helpful hints before the recipe:

• When you have a bunch of fresh parsley around the house or from your garden, trim the stems, wash the leaves, let them dry (sometimes I lay them out in the summer sun on a paper towel for a few minutes), and then throw the parsley leaves in the food processor to mince.  Put the minced parsley in a container and freeze.  Anytime you need to add some to a soup, stew, marinade, or salad dressing, just scrape a fork over the frozen parsley!  Easy.  You can try this with other herbs, too.

• One of my top 10 kitchen tools is my dear, sweet Le Creuset Cherry Red Dutch Oven for this and many other recipes.  If I were a man, this would be the equivalent of a middle-age crisis Porsche! For the longest time, I couldn’t afford to invest in this appliance (it’s really so much more than cookware), but my parents bought this for me as a housewarming gift four years ago.  It keeps the pilaf from drying out – makes the rice nice and moist, and happy.

• This recipe is really easy to embellish.  Try using chunks of beef and beef broth instead of chicken.  Add peas for some Spring color!  Give it a Latino kick with cilantro and a splash of tomato sauce.  Go healthy with some brown rice.  The possibilities are endless!

Here’s the basic recipe.  Enjoy, and let me know how you’ve personalized it.

Baba’s (Grandma’s) Basic Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

Olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3 uncooked, boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into 1” pieces

3 cups of rice (my favorite is Kokuho medium grain rice, which I’ve found at Costco and the local grocery store).

8 cups of homemade chicken stock, or store-bought free range organic chicken broth in a pinch

Salt, pepper, chopped parsley, Hungarian red paprika (or try smoked paprika for a smoky flavor)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the dutch oven over medium heat on the stovetop, add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

Saute (or sweat) the onion gently, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Then, add the chicken pieces and sauté until the chicken starts to turn white on the outside, but is still pink on the inside (half cooked).  Add parsley and paprika for flavor and color.

Add the broth and rice, stir well, cover, and place the dutch oven in the big oven.

Bake for a total of 1 hour (30 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered).  When you take the lid off, give it all a good stir to incorporate the chicken and rice.

If it looks too dry or thick, add a splash of water or broth.

Sometimes, at the end, I turn on the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the top and give it some caramel color and flavor.

Serve with crisp lettuce or a cucumber and sour cream salad to cut the richness of the rice.  My younger son likes to add soy sauce to his (it’s kind of like fries and ketchup – they just go together!).

Bon Appetit!