Lemony Brown Rice With Baby Spinach

This is my new favorite thing to do with brown rice. In fact, it's the only thing I've ever really done with brown rice, which may explain why brown rice has never excited me all that much.

Boil your rice. Mine is usually instant, but whatever.

While your rice is boiling, coarsely chop a couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach. While the rice is still hot, throw the spinach in and mix it up, so the warmth from the rice wilts the spinach a bit. I also add a little bit (about 1/2 a Tablespoon) of butter and 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil. Then I zest a lemon and add some of the juice. Tonight I also added some sliced scallions that needed usin' up. Throw some shaved Parmesan cheese on top. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and some pepper.

(Ugh - the errant bits of lemon zest and green onion clinging to the side of the bowl are on my last nerve. This is probably why I haven't been hired yet by Better Homes and Gardens to do food styling.)

This is a fantastic way to use up leftover, fresh produce. Or even toasted pine nuts. (Trust me.) I need to see how many other combinations I can come up with and which ones I like the best. For now, this is a keeper. Super fast and easy, pretty to look at, I get to use my microplane zester and my lemon reamer, and it's gotta be pretty healthy, right? Oh, and the kids like it. Forget that "Deceptively Delicious" hogwash. It seems to me that kids will not learn to love good food if they never realize they're eating it in the first place.