SPANISH RICE

Spanish rice is a favorite Mexican treat in our house. We serve it as a side dish or put it in a burrito. It's pretty versatile when you think about it. If you have some leftover white rice, I'm including the super fast version that uses already cooked rice an is ready in less than 10 minutes. If you don't have cooked rice, the other version is there too and it only takes about 30 minutes. Either way, it's worth the time. YUM! I made this rice to go inside my Burrichilada. Recipe to follow in another post, you don't want to miss that one.

Here's all you need. I forgot to include my little friend, the red bell pepper, but you'll see it later when it's all cut up, ouch!

I'm making the version with the already cooked rice. I took this picture when I was making rice for something else, so if you don't already have it cooked, just use the uncooked rice. I'll tell you about it later...

Heat the olive oil and butter.

Dice all the veggies. There is the red bell pepper.

Saute all the vegetables in the hot oil. If you are using uncooked rice, you would throw it in here too and cook until brown. Since I'm using cooked rice, I'm just cooking the veggies until they are soft, 2-3 minutes.

Add the cooked rice.

Stir in the partially drained tomatoes. I just hold the can upside down with my fingers over the top to let some of the liquid drain out, it would make soggy rice if you use it all and that wouldn't be good. If using uncooked rice, don't drain the liquid. You'll be adding all of it and more water to cook the rice.

Add all the seasonings.

Stir well and simmer for just a minute or two. You don't want the rice getting soggy. If doing the version with the uncooked rice, you'll be simmering for 20 minutes or so and then you'll get to this stage.

Serve it up and enjoy!

 Spanish Rice - Both Versions
 Print version

Standard Version

Ingredients

1T olive oil

1T butter

1 cup uncooked white rice

1 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper

1 green chili

2 cups water

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons chili powder (1 Tex, 1 Mex)

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Chop all veggies. Heat oil and butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. Sauté rice, onion, and peppers until rice is browned and onions are tender.

Stir in water and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.  Stir and Serve

Quick Version

Ingredients

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

1 cup COOKED white rice

1 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper

1 green chili

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes (lightly drained)

2 teaspoons chili powder (1Tex, 1 Mex)

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Chop all veggies. Heat oil and butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. Sauté, onion, and peppers until soft, about 3 minutes. Add cooked rice and sauté until heated through.  Stir in tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, just enough to combine everything and heat thoroughly. Stir and serve.