What's for Dinner? Rice Pilaf Redo

The grill was on tonight for Sunday dinner. I had the salmon, sausages, veggies and dessert covered. Starch? What to do, what to do....

A quick look around the kitchen found me staring at a box of Near East Rice Pilaf, 1 sweet potato, 1 yellow onion and a handful of baby carrots.

To me, rice pilaf is boring on its own. In fact, it's a rare day that I would choose (much less cook) rice as a starchy side dish. But, I knew my dining companions loved rice and I wanted to create something that they would enjoy and that would have more of an impressive nutrition and flavor profile.

Here's what happened to the standard box of Rice Pilaf

• Cooked pilaf according to package directions 

• Diced the onion and carrots & cooked low and slow in a saute pan with splash of olive oil

• Microwaved sweet potato until just tender and diced into small pieces

 Once the rice was cooked, I added the onion, carrots and diced sweet potato to the bowl. No additional seasonings were added. 

Results? Beautiful bursts of orange amongst the pale yellow rice and an unexpected sweetness from the onion hightened this basic box of rice. Additionally, a huge boost in nutritional value from the carrots and the sweet potato (and onion)  and an easy way to get added nutrition & veggies into a basic kitchen staple. Oh, and my dinner guests loved it!