Carrots Rice and Peas Side Dish

I'm sure many of you are rolling your eyes wondering what this love affair with rice and peas is. I think 3 of the last 4 recipes have involved rice in some form or other. But let me tell you the background story behind this super-easy, crowd-pleasing side dish.

When I graduated high school, I started working as a secretary in my father's office. I loved my job. What I didn't love was the long, lonely summer evenings while my family was up in the Catskills and I was stuck in Brooklyn.

The first summer, I was determined to give my father home-cooked supper meals. All the years prior he had eaten at the communal suppers the local Avreichim provides for a small fee. For a change, he would have home-cooked fare.

Unfortunately I was a very poor novice cook. I didn't really know how to cook much of anything. My mother taught me a few basic dishes and I froze a huge quantity of them. One of those few dishes was the casserole I'm writing about. It was easy and froze well. I served it twice a week with fried chicken cutlets or chicken patties or whatever else my mother had left in the freezer.

It didnt' take very long for my father to get pretty bored of the same fare. And it didn't take very long for  us to get bored of the 'home dinner together' arrangement. My father and I barely had what to talk about, as we had seen each other all day at work, and I felt lonelier than ever.

After about three weeks of this, I admitted defeat, and we went back to eating the communal suppers. At that time - I'm talking 1994 - they didn't really serve dinners for women on site. There was a takeout line, sure, and there was one table set up for women on the ladies' side (this was done in a wedding hall). But I never met anyone to exchange two words with and continued being bored and lonely. So I would take out the dinner and eat it at home in loneliness.

After two summers of this I got married, and this arrangement stopped, Boruch HaShem. In short order I learned to cook much more than the carrots-rice-and-peas side dish. As a matter of fact, I probably didn't cook it for a long, long time.  But recently it has become a staple in my house. There are really only 3 starchy side dishes in my repertoire: potatoes, pasta and rice. Somehow, potatoes are not a favorite in this house, except in deep fried form. Pasta is a favorite, but Chaim only likes it breaded, Hubby likes it with cabbage, Dovi likes it plain, and I like it in any form. So when I get tired of french fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, cabbage and noodles, and breaded macaroni, out comes the carrots-rice-and-peas dish. It takes very little prep time,  it's a one-pot dish, and everyone from Hubby to Dovi love it. It pairs well with any kind of chicken or meat main dish, and it's soft and flavorful. I don't even have a written recipe for this, as I know it by heart - since I'm 18.

Here goes.

1 onion, diced. Sautee in oil. While onion is sauteeing, grate 1 or 2 carrots and add to the onions. When onions and carrots start getting soft and golden/orange in color, add 1 cup (checked) rice and 2 cups boiling/boiled water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil, then lower flame and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add 1/2 - 1 package frozen peas and let it cook for a bit longer til it all defrosts and combines. You may need to add a bit of salt if it tastes undersalted. At some point the entire thing may start sticking to the bottom of the pot so you can turn it off and just turn it back on when you want to warm it up for supper.

HEARTY APPETITE!

(Photo to follow later IYH)