Rice recipes that will make you cook more rice next time. These recipes using leftover rice are simply delicious and all it took was 2 cups of cooked rice, a little imagination and voila…… deliciousness on a plate!

Rice recipes are to be found everywhere, Google is swamped with them and even here on my site, I have a few delicious rice recipes. In many of these recipes, the rice is cooked from scratch as in this Spicy Rice with Snap Peas and Mint or this flavorful Paella!

The topic of today’s post is however is to use leftover rice. I got the idea for my rice recipes yesterday whilst listening to a program, Praatsaam, on RSG where  the question was asked if we waist too much food and most people phoned in with lots and lots of ideas to combat this problem. I was somewhat saddened to hear that people cook once a week, a big pot of the same food and dish up for 4 – 5 meals and in that way reduce the cooking time and buying of ingredients!  Please do not read this the wrong way, I do understand that we all have to tighten the belts and that there are many people out there who really struggle to make ends meet, but what happened to a little imagination…….. I so wish I could serve all of you a bowl of my rice pudding made with leftover basmati rice, even if it is just to make your life a little more bearable for one meal! Instead I am sharing some of my favorite rice recipes with you, just to take the monotony out of every day cooking!

All three the rice recipes below, I made with leftover rice, the one with basmati rice and the other with ordinary rice. So next time you cook rice, try these easy rice recipes and add a cup or two of extra rice to the pot. Surprise your family with a sweet treat in the middle of the week, a snack for their lunch boxes or keep it for supper the next day and make a moreish fish pie! These will soon be their favorite rice recipes and they will not believe that leftovers could taste this good!

Creamy Cheesy Rice croquettes

makes 16

Ingredients

500 ml cooked rice

250 ml thick bechamel or white sauce

125 ml cooked peas

2 green chillies – finely chopped

125 ml grated Parmesan cheese

125 ml grated cheddar cheese

5 ml BBQ spice

2 ml cayenne pepper

16 (1cm x 1 cm) cubes mozzarella cheese

500 ml breadcrumbs

2 eggs – lightly beaten

oil for deep frying

Method

Mix the rice, white sauce, peas,chilli, Parmesan, cheddar, and spices in a bowl. Wet your hands with a little water and form 16 balls with the rice mixture. Place a cube or mozzarella in the middle and make sure there are no holes where the cheese can leak out whist frying. Place on a baking sheet and keep in the fridge.

Place the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl and the beaten egg in another. Place 4 -5 rice balls in the egg and make sure it is coated all over. Roll in the breadcrumbs and place back on the baking sheet. Repeat will all the other balls. keep in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Heat the oil in a deep pan or wok and fry the croquettes in batches until golden brown and serve with tomato sauce.

Stressed is dessert spelled the wrong way, so if you are stressed about life and money and budgets, make time and a little rice pudding! Clearly the easiest of all the rice recipes.

Rice Pudding with Berry Compote

Serves 4

Ingredients

500 ml cooked basmati rice

250 ml cream

100 – 125 ml condensed milk

5 ml vanilla essence

a few spoonfuls of berry jam or compote ( see how to make it here )

Method

Simply put the rice, cream and vanilla essence in a pot and bring to the boil. Cook for abut 2 minutes to reduce the cream and then add the condensed milk. Stir through and serve in small glasses with a dollop of berry compote.

The last of the rice recipes is a fish pie! My family absolutely loves this, I hope yours does too!

Smoked Haddock and Rice Bake

Ingredients

500 g smoked haddock
1 liter of milk
1 bay leaf
1 clove
1 small onion
45 ml flour
80 g butter
250 ml grated mozzarella cheese
250 ml grated mature cheddar cheese
500 ml  left over rice
paprika

Method

Place the haddock fillets in a pot and cover with the milk. Stick the clove into the peeled onion and add the bay leaf and the onion to the milk. Simmer the fish until it is done, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the fish and flake with a fork. Strain the milk and keep in a jug.Discard of the onion and bay leaf. Use the same pot and make a bechamel sauce with the butter, flour and milk……use a little more milk if your sauce is too thick! Add 1 cup of the cheddar cheese to the sauce and stir to melt. Season the sauce with salt and a little pepper! Now simply layer the rice, fish, mozzarella cheese and then the bechamel sauce in a big ovenproof dish or make individual portions as I have done. Top with some more grated cheddar and a sprinkling of paprika. Bake until bubbly and serve with a simple green salad!

The best wine in the Leopards Leap Culinaria Collection to have with the rice pudding, is the Culinaria Muscat de Frontignan

Don’t forget about the competition where you stand a chance to win a full collection of Culinaria Wines or a tasting menu for 4.

Enter NOW!

Tomorrow morning just after the 9 o’clock news, I will be  back in my seat at RSG studios, sharing this easy recipe with you! Get ready to be amazed! I will also in weeks to come take you into the kitchens of other bloggers, chefs and interesting South Africans this year. So buckle up, it is going to be an awesome ride. Tune in 100-104FM or listen online here!