If you really love rice like I do, your theme song could be “Rice Is Nice” from the 60s band The Lemon Pipers. But when it comes to eating white or brown rice, just having it plain can be boring. There are many things that you can put on it or have with it. 

I have autism and love to eat rice. In fact, I have a routine where I eat rice for both lunch and dinner. I have tried many things on it and with it. Some of the things I have tried may seem strange. 

My two favorite beef dishes to have with rice are meatballs and gravy, and meatloaf, with my favorite being meatballs and gravy over rice. 

To make the meatballs, you mix ground beef with onion soup mix. You roll the meatballs and place them on a baking sheet. Then preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the meatballs between 25 and 30 minutes. After the meatballs have been baked, they are put in gravy, which is made using beef broth and beef consommé. If you want the gravy to be thick, you can add flour or cornstarch. 

Meatloaf is my second favorite beef to eat with rice. To make the meatloaf, you mix ground beef with onion soup mix. You put the meat in a baking pan, like a bread pan. Then you preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the meatloaf for 40 minutes or until cooked through. After the meatloaf has been baked, you can cut slices and put ketchup on it, then eat it with rice. You can also put barbecue sauce on slices of meatloaf and eat it with rice as well. 

Chicken is my favorite poultry to have with rice. My favorite type of chicken to have with rice is barbecue chicken. If you use frozen chicken, you can pour barbecue sauce over the chicken. You will then preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the chicken between 30 and 45 minutes. If you use chicken that is not frozen, you can pour barbecue sauce over the chicken. You will then preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the chicken between 20-30 minutes.

Even though turkey is not my favorite poultry, you can bake or roast a turkey in the oven. After the turkey has been baked or roasted in the oven, you can cut slices and put barbecue sauce over it, then eat it with rice. 

Now that I have talked about my favorite beef and poultry that I like to have with rice, it is time to talk about other types of food that I like to have with rice, some of which may seem strange. You can also try some of these if you want. 

One of my favorite fast foods that I used to enjoy eating was chili dogs. I decided to cut hot dogs and cook them with my rice. Then I added chili to the hot dogs and rice which turned out to be tasty. This is how I eat chili dogs now. 

The first time I really tried seafood was when I was staying with my sister and her husband. I found smoked salmon in their fridge. As you might guess, I mixed it with my rice and I liked it. Another type of seafood that I have found to be tasty with rice is tilapia. The first time I tried tilapia was when I started eating fish tacos in Mexico. 

I’m not much of a soup eater. Of all the soups I have tried, my favorite would have to be clam chowder. The first time I tried clam chowder was at a buffet in Las Vegas. After my first bowl, I decided that I needed to try it over rice. The result was that clam chowder over rice is tasty. Before this discovery, I had never put soup over rice. 

Having pasta sauce over spaghetti or any other type of noodle became boring for me. I wanted to put pasta sauce over something different. I’m sure you know what I did by now. I made rice and put pasta sauce over my rice. It turns out that rice is a good substitute for pasta. Another thing I have found to be good over rice is pasta Alfredo with Parmesan cheese. 

Mexican food is my favorite. I love to eat taco rice, which is easy to make. I will cook ground beef, then add taco seasoning to the ground beef. After the taco meat is cooked, I mix it in with the rice. I will also put sour cream on top of my taco rice. 

Spanish rice is my favorite. To make my own version of Spanish rice, I mix salsa with rice. 

My favorite way to eat rice though is to put butter and cheese on it. There are three types of cheese that I like to use. My favorite is to put Parmesan cheese on my buttered rice. The second way is to use either smoked cheddar or smoked Gouda on my buttered rice. Another type of cheese I like to put on my buttered rice is the cheddar cheese powder that you use to make macaroni and cheese.

As you can see, when it comes to eating rice, I have many options. Even though the things I put on my rice may seem strange, I like everything I have tried. You can try some of the things I have tried. You can also come up with your own creation; the choice is yours.

Jeff Alan is a writer. He is based in Chula Vista, CA. This is the first story he has contributed to the River Reporter.