I can’t stop eating this modification of a traditional Armenian recipe since it is so good. It’s an excellent way to stretch costly cashews and seasonal, expensive asparagus. It works well as a vegetarian side dish or meal.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 ounces uncooked spaghetti, broken
- ¼ cup minced onion
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 ¼ cups uncooked jasmine rice
- 2 ¼ cups vegetable broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
- ½ cup cashew halves
Instructions
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Increase heat to medium, and stir in spaghetti, cooking until coated with the melted butter and lightly browned.
- Stir onion and garlic into the saucepan, and cook about 2 minutes, until tender. Stir in jasmine rice, and cook about 5 minutes. Pour in vegetable broth. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and cook 20 minutes, until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed.
- Place asparagus in a separate medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender but firm.
- Mix asparagus and cashew halves into the rice mixture, and serve warm.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 249 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 15 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 173 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
A pleasing and satisfying medley of ingredients that make this rice dish out of the ordinary, worthy of company. I do always read reviews before making a dish and a number of folks stated that there was too much butter called for, so I cut that in half and have no regrets! Two Tbsp. is adequate. I also used chicken broth since I like that flavor much better than veggie broth. I had to let my jasmine rice cook a few minutes longer and I also had to add an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup of broth since all liquid had absorbed before the rice was fully cooked. The last 2 occurrences were not biggies and I’ll probably repeat this recipe!
My family loved this! I only altered it by smashing some extra garlic and adding it to the asparagus as it boiled. I then pressed the boiled garlic into the mixture. Otherwise, delicious exactly as written. I’ve been looking for a go-to recipe to use up leftover veg before it dies in my crisper drawer. This recipe is so flavorful on its own, but is also a blank canvas for alterations and additions. Wonderful new staple in my home.
Perfect as is!
My husband doesn’t like asparagus so I left it out. It was still very good!
This has become my go-to rice dish for almost all chinese I make.
Easy peasy! I broiled the asparagus & cashews together but next time I’ll start with just the asparagus until just about done, then add the cashews to the pan to complete the broiling. The nuts were well toasted but the asparagus needed a bit longer. I finished cooking the asparagus in the rice but then the rice was a tad drier than preferred. I also will break up the spaghetti into smaller pieces. Super yummy & teen approved too
This is an awesome side dish with fish! Used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth and went light on the butter. Added the leftovers to my salad the next day! Everyone loved it!
My husband and I thought it was excellent. We loved the crunch from the spaghetti. The only change was a small bit of cumin and sliced almonds with the cashews. We will definitely make this again!
This was SOOOO good. The only changes I made was I added a half a red pepper that I sauted with the onions and a very generous sprinkling of crushed red pepper in lieu of the regular pepper because we like things to have a little bite. This is going to be a regular addition to our vegetarian line up. Thank you for a great recipe.
Loved this recipe. Used a suggestion from another reviewer and used orzo instead of the broken spaghetti. I also roasted the asparagus and cashews. And since I had it on hand, I added 1/2 a roasted green pepper. Loved the combination of roasted veggies with the toasted orzo.
I made this years ago. I’m so happy I found the recipe. I have made it adding shrimp at the last 5 minutes or so. Also have used chicken broth in place of the vegetable added cooked chicken breast cubed and browned mushrooms for a easy complete meal.
Always a favorite, easy to make and can be prepared in advance.
Very good. This would also work with a bounty of other vegetables, such as frozen peas, carrots or broccoli, and other nuts like peanuts or almonds.
Quick, easy, delicious! The bowl was empty at the end of our Easter feast. That earns it a great rating. This savory salad paired well with the ham.
Pretty good rice side dish. I made some minor changes. I sauteed the asparagus in a pan 1st ( I had half a package of mushrooms that needed to be used, so I added that to the asparagus). Once they were tender crisp, I removed from the pan and set aside. In the same pan I proceeded with the pilaf as directed, except by using olive oil instead of butter. I added the veggies and nuts to the rice and served with some roasted chicken leg quarters.
solid.
Simple and delicious!
This was very good. Made this today as a side to lamb and ham for Easter. The taste and aroma were nutty, sweet, and earthy from the cashews and asparagus. Ran out of vegetable broth, so used chicken broth for 25% of the total broth. When plating, I scraped the rice at the bottom of the saucepan and sprinkled the caramelized, brown bits on top as garnish and a bonus flavor. Everyone commented on how good the rice was before going for seconds.
This is delicious. I used broccoli because the asparagus at my market did not look good. The flavor and texture of the jasmine rice is wonderful. I will use this as a side dish and also as a vegetarian lunch. As another reviewer noted, I had to add more broth at the half-way point since all the moisture was already absorbed but the end result was fluffy rice.
Really good but I made a few changes. Used half of the butter required as suggested by others, added extra water as needed when cooking the rice because the broth wasn’t nearly enough and used broccoli rather than asparagus to suit my kids taste. I also served it with tofu for added protein since we are vegetarian. Great recipe overall that you can modify to your liking!
Yum!