Veggie rice pilaf with more veggies than rice makes a healthy high fiber easy weeknight dish. I made a huge batch for a potluck at work today and it’s one of the easiest dishes I know how to make. I am not a huge fan of rice nutrition and health wise since it is high carb but since I grew up on it, it’s like comfort food to me and it’s hard to totally give it up. When you mix rice with nuts, fat and veggies it makes it lower GI than plain white rice and as long as you don’t eat too much it can be a healthy side. This veggie rice pilaf has so much veggie in it, it’s almost overpowers the rice. Eat it as meal, as a side or stuff it into peppers for a fancy dish. I used long grain basmati rice which has the lowest GI (glycemic index) of any rice except brown basmati. I use a mix of veggies (usually whatever is available at home) and sometimes I use a frozen mixed veggie pack. I cook the rice and veggie mix separately and then just mix them up together. It’s quick and easy. For a special occasion I make a fruit nut rice pilaf and when we need picnic food, I make my lemon nut rice! We don’t eat a lot of rice, but when we do I like to savor, enjoy it and veggie rice pilaf is one of my favorite rice dishes.
Veggie Rice Pilaf
Print recipe
| Dietary | Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Side Dish |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot |
Ingredients
- 2 Cups raw long grain basmati rice
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 5-6 curry leaves
- 1 onion (sliced)
- 4 Cups mixed veggies (of your choice)
- 1 Tsp cumin powder
- 1 Tsp turmeric
- 1 Tsp garam masala
- 1/2 cup parsley or cilantro (chopped)
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 2 Tsp salt
- 2 Tsp ginger (ground or finely grated)
Note
Use 4 cups of any blend of veggies that you like. I used cauliflower, peas, carrot, beans and lima beans.
Directions
| cook 2 cups rice in 3 & 1/2 cups water with 1 tbsp olive oil in a rice cooker or stove top for 20 minutes till cooked | |
| Heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add curry leaves and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add ginger paste, spices and saute for about 3-5 minutes. | |
| Add veggies, salt and lemon juice. Cook about 6-10 minutes till cooked. | |
| Mix veggies mix with cooked rice. Add finely chopped parsley. Serve warm. | |
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Hi there! I’m Sunithi, AKA Sue, a registered dietitian with a sweet tooth and a passion for eating healthy (quite a combo) currently working as an independent consultant in the DC Metro area. I’m also a blogger, health nut, nutrition geek who jogs to keep sane :)! I love to revamp recipes and add some ‘Nutrition Bytes’ to them. All my recipes are gluten free! I also blog on natural health and fitness! Visit often and drop me a note if you have any nutrition queries!
This is exactly what I need. A platter with more veggies and less rice. Perfect for dieting.
I’m trying to cut on the carbs but this dish looks just lovely! You’re killing me! Ugh, I’m going to try this real soon!
Any type of pilaf is my favorite! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I usually use brown rice for my pilaf but the basmati rice looks so good!
This is such a colorful dish. It’ll do great for the little soiree I plan to hold next weekend. Is there another type of rice I can use? Basmati rice is kind of hard to find where I am in. Thanks for the share!
Love- high fiber dish with an abundance of beneficial veggies!
I saw this on Pinterest two days ago and I was so curious about it that I made it tonight. This was absolutely delicious.
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