sweet and savory bacon-cranberry rice - nice!

Boredom can be a bad thing, but it can also be the catalyst for something really wonderful. Like when you're tired of eating the same thing day in, day out (or what you perceive as the same thing). Tired of baked potatoes but in need of something quick and just different, I created this rice side dish one evening. It was just what I was looking for: simple, delicious and... different. The dried cranberries seem to lend their sweetness to the dish, and the small touch of curry powder accents that flavor, as well as giving the rice a nice golden color. And the bacon, well.... it's bacon! What's not to like?

This recipe uses Trader Joe's brown jasmine rice, one of my favorites because it doesn't seem as, well, brown as other brown rices. I'll let you in on a secret: I prefer white rice in all its processed splendor. Anyway, you can certainly use white rice for this dish as well; just reduce the cooking time since brown rice requires about 40 to 45 minutes.

This is all it takes to make my sweet and savory bacon-cranberry rice:

2 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 green onions, white and part of green, sliced

small amount of olive oil

1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 cup brown jasmine rice

1 cup water

In a large saucepan, saute sliced green onion in a small amount of olive oil until tender and transparent. Add rice and quickly saute in the oil, then add the cooked crumbled bacon and dried cranberries. Pour in water, add curry powder, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. When boiling, turn heat to low, cover and cook on very low heat for 35 to 45 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes approximately 3 servings. This is wonderful with roasted chicken or turkey, or pork.