Homemade Vegetable Rice a Roni

I'm always on the hunt for good side dishes. For some reason it is much easier for me to pick out the main dish than the side dishes. Once I learned that rice a roni is basically rice and broken spaghetti noodles, I knew I do it myself. I also packed this with tons of veggies. I always feel good about getting vegetables into Nate's diet! Now, I haven't had rice a roni in probably a decade, so I don't know how close this is, but here's my version.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup basmati rice
1/3 cup spaghetti noodles, broken into small pieces
1/2 green pepper, finely diced
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chicken bullion (I use the Better Than Bullion brand)
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. butter
salt to taste

Preparation:
In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add rice, broken spaghetti noodles, and veggies to skillet. Sautee for a few minutes or until rice is a light golden brown. Add water, salt, and bullion to a pot. Add rice and veggie mixture to water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce here and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, keep covered and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Fluff rice and serve.

I shared this recipe over at Mandy's Recipe Box and Chef In Training.