Lenten pilaf is not rice porridge at allcarrots and onions, as most people are accustomed to think. Without meat, if you carefully study any recipe you like, you can cook a very tasty dish, which will also be very healthy. Such food will wonderfully diversify the diet of those who are on a diet and are tired of monotonous food. And this dish can easily be included in the children's menu, since it does not have an excess of animal fat. Lenten pilaf is a godsend for dinner after a hot summer evening, when the body needs hearty and at the same time light food. It can be served on holidays as an excellent side dish. And in order for the rice to be crumbly, you need to know some secrets and adhere to the correct algorithm for preparing the dish. If you want to learn how to make tasty and healthy pilaf without meat, then carefully study the recommendations described in this article, and you will definitely succeed.
Pilaf with onions and carrots: the fastest recipe
This recipe will be a great hit with those of you whoused to save time and at the same time wants to eat tasty and healthy food. It will become irreplaceable for people involved in sports. This dish is an excellent option if you adhere to fasting or are a supporter of the principles of vegetarian nutrition. The pilaf recipe is very simple, and if you do everything right, the taste of rice and vegetables will exceed all your expectations. Ingredients:
- onion large - 3 pieces
- medium-sized carrots - 3 pieces
- rice - 2 cups
- Sunflower oil - 200 milliliters
- salt, spices - to taste
Method of preparation:In the case of lean pilaf, special attention should be paid to the choice of rice. The fact is that if in the version with meat it is not the main ingredient, then here the quality of the whole dish depends on its taste. You should not buy rice that is called steamed, since heat treatment has already made it, so to speak, neutral. It is better to pay attention to cereals with white round grain. Of course, long rice will also work, but it may not turn out crumbly. So, here is the recipe for how to cook healthy vegetable pilaf. Rinse the rice thoroughly; the water drained from it should become clear. Then soak it and set aside for an hour and a half. During this time, peel and wash the vegetables. Cut the onion into half rings. Try not to do this too thinly, because it is important that it is fried as little as possible during the cooking process. But carrots, on the contrary, need to be cut into strips the thickness of a match so that they stew faster. We can say that the secrets of proper vegetable chopping, which the Lenten pilaf recipe provides, have already been revealed to you. Now you need to choose the right cookware in which to cook this dish. If you have a cauldron or a saucepan with thick walls, take it. In addition, the container should be spacious so that the water does not "run away", but gradually turns into steam, thanks to which the rice will cook. Pour vegetable oil into the cauldron, and when it is well heated, send the onion cut into half rings into it and cook over high heat. It is very important not to allow strong frying or burning. Therefore, constantly stir the onion until it becomes transparent and slightly golden. Then send the carrot straws into the cauldron and continue cooking until it becomes soft. There is no need to fry, so do not stop stirring your vegetable zirvak. When it is stewed enough, you can strain the rice. Pour boiling water into the cauldron, for this amount of ingredients you will need about 3 cups. Now add salt and season the gravy. Make its taste rich with spices, zirvak should be salty. Now put rice in the cauldron and cover with a lid. It's time to move on to the secrets of the temperature regime, thanks to which pilaf will never turn into mush. So, the recipe requires cooking the dish for 12 minutes. The first 3 of them - on high heat, then another 7 - on medium, and the final 2 minutes - on low. During this time, steam should not come out of the cauldron. Therefore, if the lid does not fit very tightly, put a towel on top. After 12 minutes, remove the pilaf from the stove, but do not open it. It should, as they say, "reach" or "rest". But after 20 minutes, you can admire the result of your labors. If desired, add finely chopped garlic to the dish or sprinkle the plate with herbs when serving. If you did everything correctly and did not violate the cooking recipe, the rice will surprise you with its crumbliness and excellent taste. And if it did not work out the first time, then what prevents you from improving your culinary skills and trying again?
Plinth pilaf with raisins
This is a recipe, judging by the number of ingredients listed in it.ingredients, is designed for a large company. It can be an excellent side dish and complement the holiday menu. Such pilaf can be a satisfying and tasty feed for unexpected guests, since it is prepared quite quickly and easily, and all the necessary components are usually available to every housewife. By the way, the recipe for such a dish will also appeal to those who like to relax in the bosom of nature and at the same time eat deliciously without extra effort and financial costs. And if you want to cook such pilaf for dinner for a small family, then simply reduce the amount of ingredients. Just do it so as not to disturb the proportions. Ingredients:
- rice - 1 kilogram
- raisins - 150 grams
- onion large - 3 pieces
- carrots - 500 grams
- Sunflower oil - 250 grams
- black cheese - 2 teaspoons
- black pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
- salt - 2 teaspoons
Method of preparation: Peel and wash the vegetables.Chop the carrots into strips no thicker than 3 millimeters, and the onion into half rings. Take a cauldron, pour oil into it and put it on the fire to warm up. When the first smoke appears, put the onion into the dish, which must be fried until slightly brownish. Keep in mind that the color of the pilaf will depend on the quality of the onion frying. Then add the carrots and bring it to a soft state. In order for the vegetables in the cauldron to cook evenly, do not forget to stir them (at least 3-5 times during the entire frying time). When the zirvak is brought to the desired condition, add about 2 liters of cold water, add salt, ground black pepper and cumin. The taste of the gravy should be salty and rich. Pre-washed and dried raisins should also be put into the cauldron. Rinse the rice in warm water, draining it until it becomes clear, and place it on top of the vegetables and raisins. This recipe does not require the usual soaking of cereals. Smooth out the rice layer and turn the heat under the cauldron to maximum so that all the water leaves the surface. Now you need to do what Uzbek housewives usually do. Gather the rice from the edges to the center in a pile and make holes in it with a knife, reaching the very bottom of the cauldron. Let the remaining moisture boil away. Then cover the cauldron with a towel, and on top with a lid and turn the heat to minimum. This will prevent steam from quickly escaping from the cauldron, thanks to which the rice will cook properly. As a rule, the process takes about half an hour. After this time, the pilaf needs to be mixed and placed on a large plate. Serve it with a salad, and it is better to wash it down with green tea. Enjoy your meal!
Pilaf without meat with champignons
Housewives who have ever cooked pilaf withmushrooms, will confidently say that they are an excellent substitute for meat. It is important to choose high-quality rice, do not skimp on seasonings and vegetables and maintain all the necessary proportions and stages of preparation. Then the dish you serve for dinner, loved ones will appreciate and will certainly ask for more. Despite the fact that the recipe for lean pilaf with mushrooms is simple, the taste of this dish is rich and intense. And how to achieve this, read below. Ingredients:
- Long grain rice - 900 grams
- onion large - 3 pieces
- carrots large - 3 pieces
- champignons - 800 grams
- Sunflower oil - 300 milliliters
- garlic - 2 small heads
- a mixture of spices (paprika, coriander, hot red pepper) - to taste
- black cherry
- salt - to taste
As usual, start with vegetables:Wash and clean them. Peel the garlic. Chop the carrots into thin strips and the onion into half rings. Wash the mushrooms and cut them fairly large, preferably into halves. If they are very large, then into smaller pieces. Rinse the rice very thoroughly and then soak it in cold water for about 30 minutes. Take a cauldron, heat up the vegetable oil in it and start making zirvak. To do this, fry the onion over medium heat until golden brown, then the carrots until soft. Add salt and a mixture of spices. Then put the champignons in the cauldron and increase the heat. Fry the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. They should absorb the aroma of the spices. Then pour 1.5 cups of boiling water into the cauldron, put the garlic in it and leave the zirvak to cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. When this time is up, taste the sauce and add more salt if necessary, taking into account that salt will no longer be added to the rice. Do not forget to remove the garlic from the zirvak, because it has already given up all its aroma. Strain the rice cereal and lay it in an even layer on top of the vegetables and mushrooms. Carefully, so that the ingredients do not mix prematurely, add water. It should barely cover the rice. Make the fire under the cauldron maximum. The water, rising from below, will pass through all the layers of the future pilaf and cook it, so to speak, on steam. If the rice is steamed unevenly, the recipe allows you to stir it with a spatula. But you need to do this very carefully so as not to touch the zirvak. When you notice that the cereal has become transparent and the water has dropped to the level of the vegetables and mushrooms, cover the cauldron with a lid. Before this, gather the rice from the edges into a mound and stick garlic into it, sprinkle everything with cumin on top, and reduce the heat to a minimum. To prevent the steam from escaping too quickly, cover the cauldron with a few towels. After 30 minutes, the pilaf is ready. Stir it and serve quickly on a large, beautiful platter.
Vegetarian pilaf with red beans
For those who are at least a little familiar with vegetarianismcuisine, often came across dishes that include beans in the recipe. And this is quite natural, because thanks to their use, it is possible to prepare very satisfying and tasty food. Lenten pilaf with beans is considered a traditional Indian food. It is very healthy, unusual and looks very appetizing, so it will decorate any table, both festive and everyday. The recipe for this dish is so simple that even a person without special culinary talent can easily master it. Ingredients:
- long-grain rice "Basmati" - 500 grams
- red kidney bean - 350 grams
- carrots - 300 grams
- large onion - 1 head
- garlic - 1 head
- raisins - 100 grams
- Sunflower oil - 50 grams
- salt - to taste
Method of preparation:Beans should be soaked overnight in cold water. This will allow them to cook faster later. Rinse the rice thoroughly and also leave it in cool water, however, only for about 30 minutes. During this time, wash and peel the vegetables. As always, for pilaf, cut the onion into half rings, and the recipe calls for a very unusual way of chopping the carrots. They need to be grated, and even on a fine grater. This is necessary to give the pilaf a beautiful color. Take a saucepan with a thick bottom, pour in sunflower oil, then layer the strained beans, grated carrots, half rings of onions and raisins. Salt each layer. As you can see, the recipe does not prescribe any preliminary frying of the ingredients, there are practically no spices. Therefore, the dish can well be called dietary, because there is also negligible vegetable oil in it. When you have layered all the ingredients in a cauldron or saucepan, carefully spread the rice on top of them, do not forget to drain the water first. Stick the garlic into it, separating the head into cloves, but do not remove the skin. Now pour boiling water over the future pilaf so that the rice is covered by about 2 fingers. Cook for 40 minutes over medium heat, without stirring. After the specified time, connect the layers with a wooden spatula and put the vegetarian pilaf with beans on a large plate. Serve with a vegetable salad. As you can see, you can cook pilaf even without traditional zirvak. If you doubt that it will turn out well, be sure to try to master this recipe, and as a result, you will be very surprised at how delicious this simple rice dish can be. In our country, the observance of Orthodox religious fasts has recently become increasingly popular. Some people really find this a way of spiritual purification, while others, under such a plausible pretext, try to get rid of excess weight and simply use a significant deterrent. But in both cases, people face the monotony of their menu. Agree, it is incredibly difficult to invent masterpieces from a very limited list of products. Almost every familiar recipe includes meat or fish. Therefore, lean pilaf, which can be easily prepared following the examples described above, will certainly become the signature dish of your, for some period of meager, diet. It is also appreciated by vegetarians who, due to their beliefs, generally refuse meat and fish products. Therefore, you should not sigh sadly once again, choking on boring oatmeal. It is better to choose a recipe you like and start preparing delicious, albeit lean, food.