Greek Lemon Rice with Turmeric

Good Evening Blogging family and friends!

Today, I woke up thinking this challenge was a mistake 🙂 I know I’m doing it for myself, but I really wanted to bake cookies when I got home this evening. As I pushed all of my plants by the window to get some sunlight for the day, played with little Archie, and made a smoothie this morning, I told myself that I got this. I know that once I lose the weight, it will be easy to maintain and that gets me through it.

I surpassed my steps today and enjoyed shopping with a neighbor early in the morning. She’s teaching her daughter how to cook and wanted to do something with pork. I gave her a great recipe from college for Greek Souvlaki that you can grill on a skewer. When she invited me for dinner, I couldn’t say no. Here’s the dilemma – how do you eat vegetarian only meals as a guest when meat is the main course?

I offered to bring the sides: a simple cucumber and tomato salad along with today’s recipe Greek Lemon Rice with Turmeric. I also added a little Violife feta to it and chopped herbs larger than I usually would so that her daughter could scoop it off if she didn’t like it. (She scooped them off 🙂 I got two thumbs up for the rice though. So, lesson learned. If you have a specific diet, find out what the host is making and offer to bring a side dish or two that complements the chef. Night everyone!

Continue Reading for the recipe.

Greek Lemon Rice with Turmeric

Serves 5

Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice, soaked, washed and drained
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/4 sweet onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely diced
2 cups vegetable broth
2-3 dashes of turmeric
1 lemon, juiced, plus zest of that lemon
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp dill, finely chopped
feta (optional)

Directions:
1. Place the rice in a bowl and add enough water to cover it. Let it soak for 20 minutes. Rinse, drain, and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent.
3. Add the rice and stir continuously for about a minute.
4. Add the vegetable broth, stir and bring to a boil.
5. Add a few dashes of turmeric depending on taste.
6. Cover and simmer on low heat for 12 minutes or until done.
7. Fluff the rice with a fork.
8. Add the fresh parsley, dill, lemon zest, lemon juice and a dash of salt and pepper.
7. Stir to combine and serve with feta on top (I used plant-based violife).

*Pairs well with roasted veggie kebabs or a simple Greek salad.