Turkish Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli (Şehriyeli Pirinç Pilavı)

This rice is my favorite of all. This is the kind of rice my mother used to cook when I was living in Turkey. It's very simple, but very delicious. I've eaten many different kinds of rice dishes, however nothing beats this. My mother uses butter to cook rice, but I prefer to use olive oil. I only purchase 2 kinds of oil. Olive oil and canola oil. I use canola oil for frying which I rarely do. I never use butter in my cooking other than in desserts. If I could get away with not using butter in desserts, I would. In Turkey, there are certain dishes that must be cooked in olive oil which they call "Olive Oil Dishes" and are eaten cold. There are also dishes where olive oil is never used. However, I am breaking that rule. My mother was very surprised to hear that I use olive oil to cook rice or eggs and etc. Try it, I am sure you will like it. It will help your waistline too.

2 cups rice
¼ of a cup vermicelli
3 cups of water
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. olive oil

Put olive oil in a pot and put on medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, pour the vermicelli and stir constantly until the vermicelli is brown. Be careful not to burn. Add the washed rice and stir for a minute. Add 3 cups of water to the rice. Stir and add salt. Taste the water of rice to make sure salt is to your liking. Cover pot. Once the water in the rice starts to boil, turn the heat on low and let it cook until all the water is evaporated. Usually it takes about 20 minutes. Do not stir the rice until ready to serve.