One Dish to Rule Them All

To demonstrate how cooking for a busy family can be painless, and how I'd rather spend time on doing other seemingly more important things than cooking; here is my ultimate go-to dish that still satisfy the three important golden rules of cooking: 色、香、味（look/color, smell/aroma & taste).  

Pay attention to the order - that is the mysterious God-designed three steps to a fallen individual which was forever demonstrated in the golden book of Genesis.  Ask any mother, how hungry children would hover over her as she prepares her dish and look at all the colorful ingredients.  "Go do your homework!", the children being dutifully sent away but would later being drawn back by the irresistible aroma of the food being cooked, and finally got to taste the real thing around the dinner table.

I got this idea from the Campbell soup company many years ago, so it is not really my original recipe but I have made this dish so many times that I can guarantee you it is easy,  and will stay very popular in your family for a long time.

One can of any Campbell cooking soup, I usually use Cream of Mushroom, but you can use other cream soups like broccoli, asparagus, chicken, etc.   Slightly oil a 13 x 9 glass baking dish and turn the oven to 375F.  Pour two cups of rice on the pan, yes, you heard it right, uncooked rice.  In this case, Japanese short to medium grains work best as they have the slight stickiness to them.  

Then add the vegetables.  I have used anything you can name - really, depending on what I have at home and whether I still have the energy to do the chopping.  If you want it quick, throw some frozen mixed vegetables in at this point.  Otherwise, diced some celery, green, red or mixed bell peppers, onions, scallions, mushrooms, etc., or even have a mixed of fresh and frozen veggies.  Since vegetables will shrink after cooking, the amount of vegetables should look at least double the quantity of the rice.

Scoop the canned soup in and add one can of water.  That should be sufficient water to cook the rice as the vegetables will also emit liquid content.  The fun part now is to stir everything as evenly as possible.  If you want it to be a vegetarian dish, you can stick it in the oven covered with aluminum now and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.  Otherwise, now is the time to lay on top of the mixture two to three pieces of thin sliced chicken breasts or fish fillet of your choice.  Sprinkle in some salt, pepper, garlic powder or even ginger power on the meat as well as all around.  I usually sprinkle some cilantro flakes or even oregano or basil.

So here you are, the one dish to rule them all - colorful if you put some red, some yellow and some green; smell extremely inviting with all the essential and nutritional ingredients seasoned with garlic and herbs; and for the tasteful part?  You can hear forks and spoons clanging and scratching till the last bit of rice and vegetables are all scooped out and cleaned.  Purely satisfying and so simple to cook.  A dish that you will fall for again and again - make sure where you want to fall!