Spanish Rice

Last week, I needed a side dish for my carne asada (I'll post that recipe tomorrow) so I checked my cupboard for a box of Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice. Six years ago, my friend brought that as a side after I had a baby and it's been my go-to box since. I always have a box in the cupboard but I was out. I didn't even have tortillas! Just having meat for dinner would've been boring so I went online and looked for a rice recipe. I was totally unprepared to make a Mexican dinner but I pulled it off. I made rice, guacamole AND tortillas to serve with carne asada. Yep...I made a super fabulous Mexican meal! 

This was definitely better than Rice-A-Roni!

Spanish Rice ~ Arroz

Ingredients:

• 1 c white rice
• 2 c water
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 3/4 red bell pepper, diced
• 3/4 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1- 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 c chicken stock (or water)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 c cilantro, washed and chopped (I used half a bundle)

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil in large sauce pan over med-high heat. Add rice, cover with lid and simmer on low for 20 mins. Remove from heat and let rice steam covered for 5 mins.
2. While rice is cooking, heat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic and jalapeño and saute for 1-2 mins stirring constantly. Then add onions, red and yellow peppers and saute for another 3-4 mins.
3. Add beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper and saute for 3-4 mins. Add diced tomatoes and chicken stock (or water) and bring to a gentle boil, stirring often 5-7 mins until veggies have absorbed most of the liquid.
4. Add cooked rice and cilantro and stir constantly until rice mixture is heated through about 3-5 mins.

Source: Adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Notes: Spanish rice is also known as Mexican rice or simply "arroz" in Mexico. It's usually made with long-grain rice but I used short-grain and thought it tasted great. We had leftover rice and it was a fantastic filling for quesadillas as well as a tasty topping for nachos. We ate it up!