What's for dinner: Five quick and easy meals made with rice

One of the most handy of kitchen staples, with rice as your main event, you can have dinner from pot to plate in under 30 minutes

Rice is an easy route to a quick and healthy dinner.

Hake with ginger and rice

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is a super simple, humble recipe for a quick dinner or lunch using good quality Irish hake and our favourite leftover ingredient — rice

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 400g leftover rice

• Bunch of spring onions, white parts sliced thinly, green ends discarded

• 1 thumb of ginger, peeled and grated

• 2-3 fillets of skinless hake,

• cut into large chunks

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

• 50g butter

• 3 tbsp light vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

• Small handful of coriander, chopped

Method

1. Place the fish chunks on a board and drizzle two tablespoons of oil over it. Rub the grated ginger all over the chunks and then season all over with sea salt and black pepper.

2. Make sure the chunks are well coated in oil, ginger and seasoning.

3. Leave for a couple of minutes.

4. In a large frying pan over medium high, heat the remaining oil and then add the marinated fish chunks. Cook the fish for a couple of minutes on one side and then cook for a further two minutes until the fish is cooked through. Remove from the pan to a warm plate.

5. Add the butter to the pan, letting it melt before adding the leftover rice. Heat the rice for a minute or two and then add the spring onions.

6. Stir everything around the pan until the rice starts to stick. Stir the sugar and vinegar together until the sugar dissolves and then pour this over the rice.

7. Stir through and then remove from the pan. Serve in bowls with the fish on top, garnished with freshly- chopped coriander.

Hangover rice

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is a ‘dirty’ rice dish we came up with when very hungover one afternoon. It is a sort of raid-the-fridge type recipe that turned out to be an absolute winner

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Small bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced

• 8 spicy sausages, skins removed

• 1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips

• 1 stick of celery, finely diced

• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 400g leftover rice

• 2 organic eggs

• Vegetable oil

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 100ml good chicken stock

Method

1. Place a large casserole or frying pan on a medium-high heat. Add the sausage meat to the pan along with a little oil. Fry for a minute or two allowing the fat in the sausage meat to melt out. Add the onion to the pan and cook until starting to soften (around two minutes) and then add the celery, green pepper, green chilli and garlic. Cook for 5-6 minutes.

2. Add the rice to the pan and stir into the fat and other ingredients until everything is well combined and the rice is starting to stick to the pan. Add the chicken stock and keep stirring everything around the pan until the stock all but evaporates.

3. Remove from the heat and leave aside. In a separate frying pan, fry two eggs in a little vegetable oil so that they are nice and crispy on the bottom with lovely runny yolks. Season the yolks with sea salt and black pepper. Divide the rice between two bowls and top with fried eggs. Scatter slices of spring onions over the dishes and serve.
   
   Picture: Bríd O'Donovan

Fast fakeaway fried rice

Ideal for days when the fridge needs a clear out, use whatever vegetables you have

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 17 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 onion- red/white/scallion/shallot

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 red chilli or chilli flakes or chilli powder

• 200g leftover protein bits- chicken/tofu/veg/prawns

• Soy sauce

• Honey

• 1 tablespoons fish sauce or shrimp paste(optional)

• 200g cooked cold rice (it is truly best to use less fresh rice)

• 100g of empty the fridge veg- scallions, peas, cubed carrots, pak choi

• 1 tomato or a few cherry tomatoes

• Salt and pepper

• Oil for frying

Method

1. Fry your onions in some oil over a hot heat for a few minutes and then add your garlic and chilli.

2. Season the onions, garlic and chilli with some salt. Fry for a further 3-4 minutes.

3. Now add in your strips of chicken/tofu/veg/prawns and fry for at least 5 more minutes or until a little golden. If raw, be sure to cool them through.

4. In a little dish, you can mix up your soy sauce, honey, and fish sauce or shrimp paste.

5. Add your rice, any extra veg, tomato and your sauce to the pan. Stir it all together and fry for another minute or two until everything is cooked and piping hot. Taste and add seasoning as desired.

6. Serve with a freshly fried crispy egg.
   
   Photo by Momo King from Pexels

Korean spicy beef rice bowl

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

This is one of my favourite midweek meals. It is ready in twenty minutes and satisfies any craving I have for a takeaway

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Korean

Ingredients

• 500g minced beef

• 1 onion

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp grated ginger

• 45ml honey

• 60ml soy sauce

• 1 ½ tsp Korean red pepper flake powder or chilli flakes

• ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper

• 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 red pepper

• 1 corn on the cob

• 200g tender stem broccoli

• 200g sugar snap peas

• A handful of cashew nuts

• 450g brown rice

• 2 spring onions

• Sliced fresh red chilli

• Some fresh chopped coriander

Method

1. Rinse the rice well. Put into a saucepan with 900ml cold water and some salt. Cover, bring to the boil, and then simmer until the water is absorbed about ten to twelve minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat, take off the lid and let it stand for five minutes to allow any excess moisture to evaporate away.

2. While the rice is cooking, get on with the stir-fry. First, make your sauce. In a bowl, combine the soya sauce, garlic, ginger, red pepper powder or chilli flakes, black pepper, honey, and half of the toasted sesame oil.

3. Peel, halve and slice the onion. Wash and prepare the rest of the vegetables. Remove the stalk and seeds from the red pepper, then slice it. Cut the kernels away from the cob of corn. Chop the tender stem broccoli into pieces about three centimetres long. Keep the sugar snap peas whole.

4. Heat a wok over a high flame. Add the rest of the sesame oil. Reduce to a medium/high heat and toss in the sliced onion. Stir fry it for a few minutes until it starts to soften and brown a little. Now add the beef and keep stir-frying until it is well browned. Add the broccoli, stir fry for a minute or two, before adding the sugar snap peas and corn, again, stir-frying all the time. 

5. Add the red pepper and stir fry for another two minutes. Finally, add the sauce and a handful of cashew nuts. Coat everything well in the sauce, stir-frying for another two to three minutes to cook the ginger and garlic and develop all those gorgeous flavours.

6. Now plate up. This recipe makes four generous portions. Put a quarter of the rice into each bowl. Add the spicy beef, and then finish with the spring onion, chopped coriander and some sliced fresh red chilli. 

Pilaff rice

recipe by:Darina Allen

This delicious rice dish can be bulked out with cooked chicken and greens

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 17 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 25g butter

• 2 tbsp onion or shallot, finely chopped

• 400g long-grain Basmati rice

• 975ml homemade chicken stock

• salt

• freshly ground pepper

• 2 tbsp herbs, freshly chopped (parsley, thyme, chives)

• Optional

• Leftover cooked chicken 

• Baby spinach

• Juice of half a lemon

Method

1. Melt the butter in a casserole, add the finely chopped onion and sweat for 2-3 minutes. Add the rice and toss for a minute or two, just long enough for the grains to change colour. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, add the chicken stock, cover and bring to the boil.

2. Reduce the heat to a minimum and then simmer on top of the stove or in the oven 160°C for 10 minutes approx. By then the rice should be just cooked and all the water absorbed. Just before serving stir in the fresh herbs if using.

3. Five minutes before serving, stir through the cooked chicken and baby spinach and spritz with some lemon juice as you spoon onto plates.