This recipe is a child of two greats—<a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6157-baked-rice">Pierre Franey's baked rice</a href>, which Merrill wrote about in A New Way to Dinner, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/nutrition/01recipehealth.html">Martha Rose Shulman's green rice</a href>—which means it's got a good gene pool, and plenty of smart tricks coming out its metaphorical ears: <br /> <br />First, instead of boiling the rice on the stove, you add the liquid, cover the pot, and then send it into a 400° F oven for precisely 17 minutes. And, that liquid is not simply water, but a blend of water (or vegetable broth) with spinach and cilantro. <br /> <br />To take it from side dish to self-contained meal, pour in a can of drained white beans and a handful of frozen peas before the rice goes into the oven—both will absorb the flavorful cooking liquid. To the fluffed rice, wilt in some more spinach along with lemon zest, chopped mint, and goat cheese. You'll get a creamy, tangy mess of greens-entangled rice.

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