I was talking with a friend recently who was so excited to be finally getting stove in the house that he's been remodeling and living in. So I asked, "What is the first thing you're going to cook?" "Rice. Lots of rice." he replied. Of course. It's so easy to take simple food for granted. I love simple food because it's easy to make and subtle flavors are not lost in complicated cooking processes or long ingredient lists.

So, I decided to go back to my roots for this one and prepare a simple yet filling bowl of Yellow Jasmine Rice, quick sauteed spinach, and a hearty egg. It's awesome. The yellow jasmine rice really makes this recipe special. It's one of my favorite recipes and I'm happy to be able to use it in a new way.

To make this recipe last throughout the week, I filled single serving containers with the cooked rice, added a scoop of the sauteed spinach and either cooked an egg fresh when I was ready to eat, or I pre-fried an egg and just reheated it all together in the microwave. The reheated bowls that had a pre-cooked egg didn't have that nice runny yolk that almost acts as a creamy sauce, but they were still delish.

Golden Rice Bowls

Total Recipe cost: $7.40
Servings Per Recipe: 6 (1 cup rice, 1/2 cup spinach, 1 egg each)
Cost per serving: $1.23
Prep time: 5 min. Cook time: 50 min. Total: 55 min.

RICE INGREDIENTS		COST
2 Tbsp	butter	$0.15
1 small	yellow onion	$0.32
2 cloves	garlic	$0.16
2 cups	uncooked jasmine rice	$0.88
1 tsp	turmeric	$0.05
1/2 tsp	ground cumin	$0.03
1/8 tsp	cinnamon	$0.02
1 whole	bay leaf	$0.15
3 cups	chicken broth*	$0.27
SAUTEED SPINACH INGREDIENTS		COST
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.32
2 cloves	garlic	$0.16
1 (16 oz.) bag	spinach	$3.49
to taste	salt & pepper	$0.05
OTHER INGREDIENTS		COST
6 large	eggs	$1.35
TOTAL		$7.40

*I use Better Than Bouillon chicken base to make broth.

STEP 1: Begin the rice first because it will take the longest to cook. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute onion and garlic with butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat until the onions are soft and transparent (3-5 minutes). Add the dry rice, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon. Stir and cook these ingredients for about 3 minutes more to toast the dry rice and spices. You should hear it crackling a little as it cooks. Make sure to stir often so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pot.

STEP 2: Add the chicken broth and bay leaf to the pot. Place a lid on top and turn the heat up to high. Let the pot come up to a full rolling boil and then turn the heat down to low. Let the pot simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let the pot sit for an additional 20 minutes without removing the lid or stirring the pot. After the final 20 minutes, fluff the rice with a fork.

STEP 3: When the rice is close to being done, prepare the sauteed spinach. Mince a clove of garlic and add it to a very large pot along with the olive oil. Saute the garlic for 1-2 minutes over medium heat, or just until becomes soft and fragrant. Add the fresh spinach and saute for about 3 minutes, or just until the spinach has wilted. Season the spinach with salt and pepper to taste. Fry six eggs.

STEP 4: To serve, add about one cup of warm rice to a bowl, add 1/2 cup of the sauteed spinach, and then top it off with a fried egg. Hot sauce adds a nice kick to this dish, too.


Don't act like you didn't see the sriracha coming...

Step By Step Photos

Star with a diced onion and some minced garlic in a medium pot with butter. Saute these ingredients for a few minutes over medium-low heat until the onions are soft and transparent.


Then add the dry rice, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon.


Stir and cook these ingredients for a few minutes before adding any liquid. This will toast the rice and the spices, which adds more flavor. You should hear the rice crackling and popping a little. Make sure to keep stirring so that it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot.


Finally, add the broth and bay leaf. Put a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and let the pot come up to a full boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer with the lid in place for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit, without removing the lid or stirring, for an additional 20 minutes.


After sitting for 20 minutes with the heat turned off, lift the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.


When the rice is close to finished cooking, start the spinach. Mince a couple more cloves of garlic and saute them in olive oil for 1-2 minutes, or until it just becomes soft and very fragrant. You'll want to use a very large pot so that you can stir the spinach without it spilling out all over.


I used a large 16 ounce bag of spinach. These large bags of "cooking spinach" are usually a much better deal than the small salad sized bags of spinach. This huge bag will cook down to just a few cups.


Add the fresh spinach to the pot with the garlic and olive oil. Stir and cook for a few minutes or until the spinach is fully wilted. This happens pretty fast. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Fry up six eggs and then build your bowls. 1 cup rice, about a 1/2 cup of spinach and one perfect egg.


In my house where there are eggs there is sriracha!