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Rice cooker recipes? Need ones that are 1 step and have rice

G

gotsmack

Diamond Member
My boss bought a rice cooker for the office after I said I'd bring in stew for the office, but need someone to make rice (I only make rice when I'm at my parent's place and they have a rice cooker). So I figured that I'd make 1 pot meals in the rice cooker for the office (8 people including me)

Rice cooker: it's the $40 kind that you get a target with the preset buttons for type of rice or whatever you want to do with it.

Rice I have: I bought a big bag of brown rice from Costco (trying to be somewhat healthy)

Problem: I'm not sure what meats and vegetables cook well in a rice cooker with brown rice in it (45 minutes of cooking instead of 25 for white rice).

I'm not really interested in any meals that require separate cooking in the rice cooker, but I can do some prep work at home the night before.

WHAT I'm LOOKING FOR:
1. suggestions on what cuts of meat will cook well in a rice cooker for 45 minutes.
2. What vegetables hold up for 45 minutes in a rice cooker.



Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
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gotsmack said:
I'm not really interested in any meals that require actually separate cooking in the rice cooker, but I can do some prep work at home the night before.
Click to expand...

I actually haven't had real good luck doing veggies or meat in the rice cooker, just rice & oatmeal. The veggies always come out somewhat...dead. So if I'm feeling lazy, I do my veggies & meat on rice like this:

Veggies: Add frozen veggies into a cereal bowl & cover with water, microwave for 3 minutes. Drain & dump veggies on rice.

Meat: Buy the packaged kind, ex. the sliced pre-cooked chicken strips. Just microwave those & throw on top of the rice. They look like this:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWXXPC9IQu8/TbeMmJBLFbI/AAAAAAAAIyY/unCPqMw5bHo/s1600/DSC_5235+copy.jpg

They come in chicken, turkey, etc. and in grilled flavors, teriyaki flavors, etc. And you can keep a few condiment bottles lying around to spice up the plain grilled kind - BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard sauce, Teriyaki sauce, etc. So you can have really easy, fairly healthy meals.
 
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Kaido said:
I actually haven't had real good luck doing veggies or meat in the rice cooker, just rice & oatmeal. The veggies always come out somewhat...dead. So if I'm feeling lazy, I do my veggies & meat on rice like this:

Veggies: Add frozen veggies into a cereal bowl & cover with water, microwave for 3 minutes. Drain & dump veggies on rice.

Meat: Buy the packaged kind, ex. the sliced pre-cooked chicken strips. Just microwave those & throw on top of the rice. They look like this:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWXXPC9IQu8/TbeMmJBLFbI/AAAAAAAAIyY/unCPqMw5bHo/s1600/DSC_5235+copy.jpg

They come in chicken, turkey, etc. and in grilled flavors, teriyaki flavors, etc. And you can keep a few condiment bottles lying around to spice up the plain grilled kind - BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard sauce, Teriyaki sauce, etc. So you can have really easy, fairly healthy meals.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to keep cost down so I only buy whole chicken and break them down myself. I use the bones for stock the dark meat gets pan roasted for dinner. Breasts get pounded thin, then breaded and fried.

I heard onions and cabbage hold up well in a rice cooker, but 2 of 8 people in my office don't like onions.

SAWYER said:
So how different is a bowl of rice in the microwave or stove top compared to a cooker?
Click to expand...
I've only had the 1 minute microwave rice and unless it's improved a lot in the last 15 years, microwave rice is crap. I have cooked stove-top rice before (bring to a boil on the stove and pop it in the oven) and that is very good, but I don't want to babysit rice.

SheHateMe said:
I just wait till its done, scoop a few balls out and fry it up with some skrimp and some veggies.
Click to expand...

No cooktop at work. This is a small office kitchenette and counter space is very limited.

BoomerD said:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,rice_cooker,FF.html
Click to expand...

I saw that in a google search, but they don't have many rice based dishes there. especially with brown rice. Also I don't want to use canned soup.
 
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You can throw some vegetables in there. My rice cooker has a separate tray that goes on top where you can steam-cook some meat or something, but if you dice up some dead beast, you could just throw it in the pot too. Either way, does a pretty a good job. Throw a seasoning packet in there, drown it in sweet'n'sour sauce and pretend it's chinese food.

If you're the sort who puts grease in your rice, consider olive oil instead of butter. Also try replacing half the water with chicken broth. (Preferably low sodium if you're trying to be healthy.)

The important part is the seasoning.

If you do the Costco thing, pick up a bag of quinoa too. They sometimes have 4-lb bags for $9. It cooks the same as rice, and has some nutritional pros and cons vs. brown rice. I'd probably mix it in with the rice (half and half.)
 
dave_the_nerd said:
You can throw some vegetables in there. My rice cooker has a separate tray that goes on top where you can steam-cook some meat or something, but if you dice up some dead beast, you could just throw it in the pot too. Either way, does a pretty a good job. Throw a seasoning packet in there, drown it in sweet'n'sour sauce and pretend it's chinese food.

If you're the sort who puts grease in your rice, consider olive oil instead of butter. Also try replacing half the water with chicken broth. (Preferably low sodium if you're trying to be healthy.)

The important part is the seasoning.

If you do the Costco thing, pick up a bag of quinoa too. They sometimes have 4-lb bags for $9. It cooks the same as rice, and has some nutritional pros and cons vs. brown rice. I'd probably mix it in with the rice (half and half.)
Click to expand...

But what cuts of meat work best?

I don't want to use the tray because steamed veges don't taste good. I want to throw them in with the rice when cooking so they will absorb the taste of the meat.
 
Why cant you toss the veggies in towards the end? They only need 5-7 minutes of cooking. Carrots, broccoli, peppers...wait if its Costco, why not grab a bag of their frozen stir fry and mixed vegetables. Just toss a bit of each in there towards the end and you'll have more veggies than you can shake a stick at.

No reason sliced chicken wont cook in there, toss the meat in the bottom before the rice. Beef pork lamb it's all good. The temp gets hot enough to make all meats safe. Just cube them so they have time to cook all the way through (and easier to portion out).

I've got a $15 rice cooker that just has an on button, around 1 rice to 1-1.5 water (depending on type of rice) cook till done. Works fine. As a much better replacement for "regular white" rice try the Lucky Elephant Thai Hom Mali Jasmine rice (less toxic shit than U.S. stuff). Also, let it sit out for a day or two and it makes great fried rice (as long as you cooked it right originally).

Edit: As suggested Basmati is good too 😀

MMMmmm goat meat stew (with Basmati rice). Tasty stuff.

p1050172.jpg
 
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gotsmack said:
But what cuts of meat work best?

I don't want to use the tray because steamed veges don't taste good. I want to throw them in with the rice when cooking so they will absorb the taste of the meat.
Click to expand...

You're cooking for work, so I'd say the cheapest cut of meat is probably the best one.

I'll usually just dice up a couple chicken breasts if I do this sort of thing.

I was actually talking about using the tray for the meat. Any juice will then drip into the rice below. But it keeps it separate if you prefer them that way.
 
gotsmack said:
No cooktop at work. This is a small office kitchenette and counter space is very limited.
Click to expand...
Consider bringing an induction cooktop and cooking in a safe spot on the floor.

That's the only thing I read in this thread. If I'm missing something, sorry.
 
Howard said:
Consider bringing an induction cooktop and cooking in a safe spot on the floor.

That's the only thing I read in this thread. If I'm missing something, sorry.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to spend an hour cooking at work and I also don;t want to make a mess with the oil splattering all over the floor from frying. I'm going to stick with rice cooker meals.
 
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