I invented this recipe one evening at Brenda‘s when we had leftover sticky rice we wanted to use up. It was deeeeelicious, probably mainly because there is so much butter involved. But as Bonnie and Sonja are fond of reminding me (bless them both) according to Nourishing Traditions, butter is a health food! I really need to read that book one of these days.

Anyway, this is a yummy side dish. We gobbled it up with baked apricot-glazed chicken breasts and roasted asparagus. Well, most of us gobbled it up; Bug declared she didn’t like the butter rice and wanted plain sticky rice. Brenda, Annalie, Elliora and I were all fine with that since it meant more butter rice for us!

All measurements are approximations because I didn’t measure anything when I made it. But I think this is the kind of recipe you can adjust to your own liking, anyway. Please note that you really should be using butter, not margarine. Margarine is NOT a health food, and—perhaps more importantly—it’s not nearly as delicious as butter. If you cannot eat dairy, by all means use coconut oil instead, or an equivalent amount of olive oil.

Garlicky Butter-Thyme Rice
Serves 4-6

• 3-4 cups cooked rice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp dried thyme
• sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

In a medium stock pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. (The olive oil has a higher smoke point than butter and helps prevent burning.) Once the butter is melted, add the garlic and saute briefly, till it smells delicious and garlicky.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the rice. Cook stir for a few minutes, till the rice is all coated with oil/butter and there are no large clumps left.

Add the broth (and dried thyme leaves, if that’s what you’re using) and turn heat down. Cover and simmer on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, till almost all the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and add fresh thyme leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let sit another five minutes or so before serving.

And Troy’s here! Yay!

Until I get the chance to blog about them, please go look at my photos which I’ve lovingly edited and Flickred for your viewing pleasure.