Green Goddess Rice Recipe - Southwest Style, a.k.a. Cilantro Avocado Rice

Sometimes rice is just a ho-hum add-on to the main course. Bland. Boring. Forgettable. Just to fill up space on your plate.

No so with this rice as a side dish. Creamy. Flavorful. Even crave-able!

In the early '70's, we had Green Goddess dressing. Basically, ranch dressing with some green herbs thrown in for color. The color of this rice reminds me of that dressing, only with more color and avocado flavor.

This dish is a cinch to throw together - the main ingredients are rice and an avocado. Throw the avocado in a blender with oil, lime juice and cilantro and then stir that into the cooked rice. How easy is that?

This is a side dish you will make again and again. Guaranteed.

GREEN GODDESS RICE, Southwest Style

1 ½ cups long grain rice
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 large ripe Haas avocado
¼ cup lime juice (squeezed from about 3 limes)
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce

Bring rice and broth to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer rice for 18 to 20 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

In blender, blend all remaining ingredients until smooth, adding a little water as needed to make the consistency of sour cream.

Stir avocado mixture into rice and serve warm.

Other green rices worth checking out:

Mexican Green Rice Salad, Eclectic Recipes
Mexican Green Rice, The Naptime Chef
Green Herb Rice, Fearless Kitchen
Green Rice, My Food Blog
Poblano Rice, Dinner Diary

-- posted by Donna