Noreen's Kitchen

Cilantro Lime Rice Chipotle Copycat

Rice Preparation
2 cups long grain rice

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt

4 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock or water

To prepare the rice:

Over medium high heat combine oil and butter in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.

Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender and fragrant.

Add rice and allow to toast until you can smell a warm nutty aroma.

Add stock or water and stir well.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until small dimples appear on the surface of the rice and the majority of the water has been absorbed.  Leave the rice covered for 10 to 15 minutes and allow it to steam.

To prepare the cilantro pesto:

Combine cilantro, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, water, oil and salt in the vessel of a high powered blender or food processor. 

Blend for 1 minute until a thick paste forms.  You can add more oil if you like, but this should be the consistency of a traditional pesto.  Taste for seasoning and adjust to your preference

Combine pesto with hot rice and stir well.  If desired, add additional chopped cilantro to the rice for garnish.

 

Noreen's Kitchen
Cilantro Lime Rice

Cilantro Pesto
1 bunch pesto, leaves and stems
Juice of two limes
Zest of two limes
¼ cup water
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil

1 Cup good quality mayonnaise
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Today I am preparing for a meal of chicken taco bowls and need to start with the rice.  I thought it would be fun to make cilantro lime rice in the vein of Chipotle or Moe's.  This rice is super simple to make and you can make as little or as much as you like.  We like to have enough for a leftover meal so this is actually enough to feed eight servings or more.  It is flavorful and has a subtle taste of cilantro.  We are not huge cilantro fans but in some things we enjoy it and this is one of them.   I think you will agree this is delicious!

I started off by heating some oil and butter in a pan over medium high heat.  I sauteed some onion and garlic until it was translucent and fragrant.  Added the dry rice and stirred until it began to slightly brown and become toasted.  This is similar to how you would start a pilaf.  We are not going to be adding any pasta to this dish.  Just the rice.

When the rice was toasted I slowly added some vegetable stock.  You can use chicken stock or water if you prefer.  Use what you have on hand.  Don't have any stock?  While I said water is fine, you can also mix up some broth using bullion powder.  This will just enhance the flavor of your rice even further.

The rice needs to come to a boil then reduce the heat to medium.  cover and allow the rice to cook until the surface has little dimples or holes in it where steam escaped during the cooking process and most of the liquid is absorbed.  Remove the rice from the heat and allow to rest for 20 minutes to steam.  Then you can move on to mixing up the cilantro pesto.

This really is a pesto or a paste made with cilantro, lime and garlic.  I have also added a bit of water to get it going.  I tossed everything in my Ninja smoothie blender and whirled it for about 30 seconds until it was smooth.    I tossed everything in at once, however, if you have a regular blender as opposed to a high powered model, you will want to add everything but the oil then blend and stream the oil in while the blender is running to emulsify the mixture.  

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When the rice is finished steaming, fluff with a fork and add the desired amount of pesto according to your taste.  We did not use it all in our rice.  Leaving behind about a half cup.  This was the perfect blend for us.  Just enough cilantro flavor to not be "soapy" tasting, with good flavor from the garlic and lime.  Allow the rice to sit for a few minutes to absorb that good flavor and taste it for seasoning.

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Now your cilantro lime rice is ready for eating.  Stuff it into a burrito, taco or bowl.  Top with your favorites!  This can be served as a vegan or vegetarian dish as well, by adjusting the stock and leaving out the butter.    Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for up to three months.

I hope you give this cilantro lime rice a try sometime soon and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

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Hi!  I'm Noreen, wife, mother of two amazing, almost grown, daughters, content creator, cook, baker and sister in Christ. Welcome to my Kitchen!   I hope you stick around, enjoy the recipes and share them with those you love!

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