Baked Garlic Rice Pilaf

If you read many food blogs you are aware that recipes get trendy, you see them on every food blog for a few weeks, and then they slowly disappear. Some people hate this and refuse to blog "trendy" recipes- meh. To each his own. I cook what I like, I like what I cook, and then I blog it. Ok? Ok! With that said, this recipe was trendy reallyyyyy long ago. It kept popping up on blog after blog. It looked interesting but I had my own garlic rice pilaf recipe I loved and wasn't interested in straying.

The other night though for some strange reason this recipe popped in my head completely out of the blue. I decided to try it and seriously... oh... mah...gosh. I get it. I do. I get why this is so popular. It was delicious- perfectly seasoned, nice texture, and a nice golden color. I ate so much of this... more than I'll every admit to you. It's my new favorite side dish and I'm already dying to make it again. Will it replace my love for my old rice pilaf? Well... let's just say... they need to share my love evenly now. ::wink wink::

Oh and by the way- I was out of fresh lemons so I skipped the lemon juice and it was still amazing. I can't wait to try it with the lemon!

Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup long-grain white rice
2½ cups chicken broth, divided
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice


Directions:

1- Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Have ready a covered casserole dish.  

2- In a saucepan or skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and rice to the pan and cook until both are golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. 

3- Stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Pour the mixture into the casserole dish, cover, and bake for 25 minutes.  

4- Stir in the remaining 1½ cups chicken broth and bake, covered, for another 45 minutes.  About 15 minutes before it is finished baking, stir in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Note: This recipe can be doubled without increasing the baking time.