Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple

This is one of my most favorite personal creations, and I’ve had a lot of people ask me for the recipe. I’ve never really had a real “recipe” since I don’t measure when I make it, but I did measure the other night just so I could get it written down for y’all! And while it may not seem like the typical “comfort food” strangely it fills that roll in my life. There’s something about hot buttery rice that makes me feel warm and cozy inside, and with the addition of some of my favorite flavors, this has become a regular on our menu. It's both sweet and savory- and if adding pineapple to rice sounds weird to you, I dare you to try it. No, make that a double dog dare. I'm serious about this one.

It’s great with a lot of Polynesian style dishes, and also Latin foods. Sometimes I leave out the pineapple, and throw in a can of black beans, or use it for fajita stuffing. The other night we ate it with teriyaki chicken and that was great too. It’s a really quick side dish to toss together and a nice change from your every day white rice.

This works out especially well with Sweet and Savory Flank Steak because you can use the pineapple in the rice, and the juice in the steak marinade. I have always used pineapple tidbits when making this, but after hearing the comments I tried it with crushed pineapple and loved it. I think I'll make it with crushed from now on, but if you like it chunkier, try out the tidbits.

Pineapple, Cilantro, Limes, a few pats of butter, and white rice.

Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple

Like I said, you really can just make this to taste, but here’s the basics.

1 cup dry white rice, cooked in 2 C water.
2 T real butter
Juice from 1 large lime, or two smaller ones (taste as you go, I add a lot!)
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained. (You may want 2 small cans)
½ - ¾ C chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice. As soon as it’s done, toss in the butter and stir to melt. Add lime juice, pineapple, and cilantro. Stir to combine, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

* You’ll want to serve this right away, if you don’t, the flavors tend to mellow a bit and you’ll probably need to add more lime juice because the rice kind of sucks it up. If you’re not quite ready to eat when your rice finishes cooking, just toss in the butter and keep a lid on it so it stays warm. Then right before you serve it, toss it all together.

This is especially amazing with :

--Chili-Lime Mango Chicken Skewers

--Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

--Sweet and Savory Flank Steak

--Asian BBQ Chicken