Today's recipe is one of those classic side dishes that you can utilize for lunch or dinner several times during the week. It was originally prepared with and onion soup mix as listed below, but it is just as good prepared with vegetable, chicken or beef broth, or just about any other water-base soup you can imagine.

You control the caloric content of this recipe depending upon which soup mix you utilize to prepare it. Naturally low is fat and calories, this rice side dish will be come a standard in your recipe files from The Cook & Kitchen Staff at Recipe-a-Day. Com.

Pre-heat oven to 400-F degrees. Spread rice in a large, shallow baking pan and place in the oven. Bake, stirring once or twice, until the rice is a dark golden brown, approximately 5-minutes. Remove rice from oven and reduce oven temperature setting to 350-F degrees.

In a small saucepan heat mushrooms, 1/4 cup water and lemon juice to simmering. Continue to simmer, uncovered for approximately 3-minutes, stirring the contents often. Drain, and set aside.

Combine rice, mushrooms, butter, boiling water and soup mix in a 1 1/2-quart covered casserole dish. Stir together with a fork. Cover tightly and bake for 30-minutes. Stir lightly with a fork to fluff and continue baking uncovered, until liquid is absorbed but the rice is still moist, about 15-minutes more. Serve warm.