Vegetable Pilaf Recipes

SPICED VEGETABLE PILAF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. In boiling water, cook carrots for 4 mins, tipping in onions for the last min of cooking. Drain and mix in a roasting tin with 4 tsp oil, the cumin and seasoning. Roast for 30 mins, while you cook the rice.
• Heat remaining 2 tsp oil in a large pan. Add cardamom and cinnamon for 30 secs, then add rice and toast for 1 min. Pour over stock and 100ml water, then simmer, covered, for 25-30 mins, until rice is tender and the water absorbed. Remove cinnamon and cardamom.
• Tip in lentils and fork through before topping with spinach. Put lid back on and cook over a low heat, stirring once, until spinach has wilted and lentils heated through. Fork through again before tipping the cumin roasted veg onto the top and sprinkling with almonds, if using.

AWESOME RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir carrots, celery, red bell pepper, onion, and garlic until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Gently stir rice, corn, and peas into vegetables to combine. Pour chicken broth, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce into rice mixture. Season with lemon pepper, parsley, thyme, saffron, salt, and black pepper, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let pilaf stand covered until grains are separate, 10 to 15 more minutes.

VEGGIE PILAF

Steps:

• Peel the onion and finely slice with the garlic, then peel and halve the carrot lengthways and finely slice at an angle. Pick the parsley leaves and put aside, then finely chop the stalks. Drain the chickpeas.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, wide, non-stick pan on a medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and parsley stalks, along with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then cook gently with the lid on for 10 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.
• Pour 300ml of water into a small pot, then add the stock concentrate and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.
• When the vegetables have softened, add the turmeric. Then add the rice. Finely grate in the lime zest and squeeze in the juice, stirring regularly.
• Roughly chop and add the apricots along with the chickpeas, then pour in the hot stock. Bring to the boil, simmer for 2 minutes, then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat down to medium-low and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Turn off the heat and leave the pan to one side, with the lid on.
• Meanwhile, put a medium non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, scatter in the pepitas and toast until lightly golden.
• Decant the yoghurt into a small bowl. Make the harissa into a paste with 2 teaspoons of water, then swirl through the yoghurt.
• Fluff up the rice with a fork, then divide between plates. Sprinkle the pepitas over the pilaf, then finely chop and scatter over the parsley. Serve with spoonfuls of the spicy yoghurt.

VEGETABLE BIRDSEED PILAF

Steps:

• Cook and stir millet in a large saucepan over medium heat until fragrant and toasted, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a large saucepan; add millet and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover saucepan, and simmer until liquid is absorbed, 18 to 22 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until onion is translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Stir onion mixture, spinach, and peas into millet; add wine and rosemary and stir. Increase heat to medium, cover saucepan, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper; return cover and cook until tomatoes soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and stir Parmesan cheese into millet mixture.

MOROCCAN VEGETABLE PILAF

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a pan
• Add the cinnamon stick and allow to infuse for two minutes
• Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes until soft
• Add the Tilda Steamed Basmati rice, chickpeas, lemon and sultanas
• Cook on a medium heat for around 5 minutes until heated through
• Add the chopped parsley and fluff the rice with a fork
• Transfer to a serving dish, scatter over the flaked almonds, add dollops of Greek yoghurt and drizzle over the harissa paste

PERFECT RICE PILAF WITH VEGETABLES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, rinse rice with cold water. Stir with your hands to remove surface starch. Drain through a fine-mesh strainer and rinse again.
• Heat the butter or oil in a large, heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, red pepper, zucchini, and carrot and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the rice and cook, stirring, until it is lightly browned and smells nutty, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the broth, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook until all of the liquid is absorbed, about 40-45 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, and lay a folded kitchen towl over the pan, and cover again to hold the towel in place. Let the rice rest for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid and towel, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.

GOLDEN ONION AND SPRING VEG PILAF

Steps:

• Peel the onions and discard the first tougher outer layer. Halve and slice as thinly as possible.
• Heat the butter in a large, deep, lidded frying pan. Add the onion with a good pinch of salt and cook over a medium heat, stirring, until really golden and caramelised. This can take up to 30 minutes, so be patient. It should be soft enough that you are able to squash a piece of onion between your fingers.
• Stir in the green beans and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes then stir in the spices and bay leaf, if using, and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the rice and stir until coated in all the spices. Stir in the stock, put on a lid and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring in the peas and spinach for the final 3 minutes.