Spanish Rice was the dish that catapulted me in to foodie love. My grandmother used to make it for me as a snack when I went to visit her. If you’ve seen the movie Ratatouille – the moment when the food critic remembers back to his mama’s home cooking – I get that kind of good feeling when I eat Spanish Rice. It’s my ultimate feel-good food.

Because Spanish Rice and I are such good friends, I never measure anything when I cook it. Not such a bad thing, but it comes out different every time. I’ve updated my 2006 recipe below to 2013’s latest morph. I’ve also included a few tips on what you could substitute or add to it – so you can play around and create your own best Spanish Rice recipe.

If you can’t eat it all at dinner, it tastes just as good the next day out of the refrigerator! Even cold. Makes a great addition to a Mexican chicken soup with rice, too.

Let me tell you what I don’t like in Spanish Rice, and we’ll start from there:

1. lots of tomato paste – GROSS!
2. most boxed Spanish Rice mixes (not good for you, and usually not the flavor I’m looking for)
3. bland rice (sorry, I like some spice)
4. too hot to eat (I have made this mistake a few times, and it is better to go a little light and add your spice at the table than end up with a pot of tongue-melting rice that no-one can eat… what a WASTE!)

Next, I’ll tell you my recipe, and then we’ll discuss some additional variations/ingredients you might try.

Sprittibee’s 2013 Spanish Rice Recipe

• 1 cup pre-cooked, refrigerated rice (makes enough for 6 as a side dish)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 5-6 twists of black pepper grinder
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (or small onion)
• 1/2 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp garlic powder (my grandma always said this was the key ingredient)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp dried chives
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• chopped, seeded jalapeno or Serrano pepper
• 1/4 cup julienned carrot (that’s a fancy term for sliced long-ways)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh tomato OR 1/3 cup salsa OR sm can Rotel (depends on what you have on hand and how spicy you want the final product to be)
• 1/4-1/3 cup frozen corn
• 1 tsp ketchup
• dash of hot sauce (optional)
• large frying pan with high sides (a wok works great)

Note to chef: It is best to start your recipe with hot oil and your veggies already cut up. I make this dish really fast and keep the heat on medium-high. This recipe, despite it’s long list of ingredients, moves rather quickly! If you gather all of these spices and a few sets of measuring spoons on the counter near the pan, you can throw them in quickly and save yourself from allowing the rice to get too browned (or burnt).

Instructions:

Heat oil in pan. Add your veggies and cook until onion is tender and translucent. As you stir the veggies, you can gather your spices. The first time you make this you might want to combine the spices before hand in a bowl so they are ready to toss in all at once.

Throw your spices in and continue to saute the veggies. Frying the spices releases some of their flavor.

Note : An Asian man my husband used to work with gave us the secret to perfect fried rice back in the 1990’s. He said to make sure the rice was cold before you fry it, and it won’t get mushy or soggy. This revolutionized not only our Asian fried rice, but also our Spanish Rice. It is so much faster when you work with pre-cooked, already measured ingredients. Kind of makes you feel like Rachel Ray with all your food ready to go.

Add in your cold rice. If it is stuck in a big chunk or block, a potato masher is a great tool to loosen the grains. Make sure you have enough oil in the pan so it won’t burn or stick. I wouldn’t add more than three tablespoons of oil to the entire dish, though, so be careful not to over-oil the pan.

Stir rice to coat with oil, spices, and to mix in the veggies. Fry on medium-high, keeping the rice moving so it will warm evenly.

Add your tomato, or Rotel, or salsa… and the secret ingredient: a squirt or two of ketchup. Stir until well-blended. Taste your rice and add any additional dashes of hot sauce or extra seasoning you like. I normally add extra salt at this point, just before serving.

Note: I made Spanish Rice for ten years without ketchup, and my aunt told me it was missing from the hand-written recipe my grandma wrote out for me as a teenager. I still keep that scrap of paper and I have seen her full recipe written out – and her full recipe contains the missing ketchup! It makes a huge difference. Isn’t that strange?!

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone. It’s our secret.

Variations:

I have been doing different things to my Spanish Rice since I’ve been married and cooking – since the early 90’s. Don’t worry … It is hard to really mess it up unless you accidentally burn it or add too much HOT spice.

Other ingredients I have used in the past include:

• dash of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper powder
• dehydrated jalapeno pepper
• chopped shallots
• tomato bouillon
• chopped pickled jalapenos
• handful of chopped fresh red bell pepper (fried along with onions & rice in the beginning stages of the dish to soften it) OR spoonful of red pemintos from a jar (added at the end)
• fresh garlic
• handful of fresh chopped cilantro leaves sprinkled on top before serving (mmm!)
• … my favorite addition is vermicelli (similar to the long pasta “grains” in Rice-a-Roni, and you only add about a fourth cup per 2 cups rice)

Please drop a note in my comments section if you try my rice and let me know what you think! Pin me if you love it!

{ ¡Buen provecho! }

In Him,

Heather

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