Cilantro Lime Rice

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup long-grain white rice

1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp. salt

First, you need to wash off the excess starch on the rice. This will prevent it from making a sticky mess. Put the rice in a your 2 qt. pan, run cold tap water over it. Once the pan is full of water, use your fingers to swish the rice around. The water will start getting murky. Gently pour this water out. Repeat this process till the water is mostly clear. This will take at least 4-5 washes. Now put in the water. Normally, a long-grain rice recipe calls for twice the amount of water as rice. Why then are we using only 1.5 cups of water? Because our rice has already been sitting in some water for a while, and has absorbed a bit of it. Moreoever, there is still some leftover water after you drained it, because no one can drain it absolutely dry. Put the pan on medium high heat. Wait till the water boils and starts bubbling. Now turn the heat down as low as you can, cover with the tight lid, and let it just sit there for about 15-20 minutes. Resist the urge to lift the lid and peek at the rice. After the 15-20 minutes is up, turn off the heat and let it rest another 5 minutes.

Dump cooked rice into large bowl.  Gently fold in remaining ingredients. I like to use the rice paddle that came with my rice steamer.