Excellent Egyptian Rice

In my early adulthood, I spent almost every weekend in NYC with friends. What ends your night out better than some greasy food? My friends would eat pizza, gyros and other things I couldn't eat,  I was constantly on the quest for something delish at 3am. In NYC, there are food carts on virtually every corner day and night. These carts often carry foods from around the world, many of which use no wheat. This quickly became my favorite part of my nights out (sorry friends!). I found a new cart of street meat one night. It was Egyptian food, it was different and they didn't use wheat so I was down to try it. It was AMAZING! I found myself questioning the cart owner on the rice recipe, wrote it on my hand and made it the next day. Here it is!

Egyptian Cinnamon Rice

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked rice, Brown rice or Jasmine works best

2 TBSP of Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small yellow onion, chopped

½ tsp of cinnamon   

½ tsp of cumin

¼ tsp chili powder

½ salt

Directions

1.     Heat olive oil in a sauce pan until hot and add onion and garlic, cook until browned.

2.     Add cinnamon, cumin, and chili powder into pot and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

3.     Remove pot from heat and add rice and salt, stirring until combined.

Food for Thought

·        Swapping plain white rice with brown, jasmine or basmati is a great way to up the nutritional content of your rice dish.

·        Cinnamon has been cited as helpful to people who are trying to keep their blood sugar stable.