I had one jar of black beans left from last year and all I needed was to find a good Spanish rice recipe. I've never had much luck at all with Spanish rice. It's usually either to dry or to drab so when I found this recipe I just had to try it. Since we ran out of propane a couple of days ago (don't ask) I found a recipe for Spanish Rice that could be done in the nuke machine. I'm here to tell you it's actually far and away the best I've made and I'm adding it to my "line-up".
As usual I pretty much had to make it work with what I had on hand the original recipe was just a sort of a blueprint. So here goes!
SPANISH RICE (Microwave)
from COOKS.COM
1 lg. onion, chopped (subbed re-hydrated onions)
1/4 c. chopped green pepper (subbed re-hydrated red and green bell peppers)
2 tbsp. butter
Water
1 c. stewed tomatoes, chopped and drained - save liquid (subbed my own salsa recipe and tomato juice)
1 c. long grain rice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
In 2 quart casserole combine onion, green pepper and butter. Cook on High 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Add enough liquid out of tomatoes to make 2 cups. Add to dish with tomatoes, rice, salt and pepper. Cover. Cook on High for 5 minutes then on medium for 20 minutes. Stir only once. Let stand covered for 5 minutes. (Time may vary with each microwave.)
I re-hydrated onions and some green and red bell peppers and used them instead. In place of the stewed tomatoes I used a cup of salsa. (my recipe for a wonderful salsa)
and subbed a cup of homemade tomato sauce and one cup of water for stewed tomatoes and the saved liquid.. After that I actually followed the rest of the recipe.
So we had Verde Pork, Spanish Rice and Black beans.
Sorry I didn't get a picture of the whole dinner but I promise you it was lip smacking good. I've finally found a Spanish Rice recipe I'm sure to be making again. And again.
I have a question, Sci. Does dried cilantro work well in salsa? We are a little south of you and the cilantro I plant in the spring usually goes to seed quickly, so it's not growing when I'm ready to make salsa. I haven't tried drying any yet, so some advice would be appreciated. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteFern
Hi Fern, I've had the same problem with cilantro and timing. Dried cilantro does work pretty much the same as other dried herbs. I just add more of the dried cilantro in my salsa last year. It works. One solution for cilantro going to seed before the tomatoes are ready is to replant them in late summer. I raised some indeterminate tomatoes that went on producing into the fall. Cilantro likes cooler weather so you might be able to try that. I personally think freezing it in ice cube trays with a little water and store them in freezer bags to use when you need it is the best way. I hope that helps ya some.
ReplyDeleteSci
Sounds like a good meal to me! But you know me...I like Tex-Mex type food! After all, I am from Texas!
ReplyDeleteJim, there are just some things us Texans NEED once in awhile! Tex-Mex always hits the spot!
DeleteSCI,
ReplyDeleteI bet it tasted so good you could jump up and slap your Mama!!!!!
I love Spanish or even Mexican rice.........almost anything rice :-) Thanks for sharing the recipe:-)
The temperatures are starting to warm up, it's suppose to be almost 100 degrees come Monday. Severe storms expected Wednesday - through - next Saturday.
I finally got the cucumber and corn planted in buckets/pots,I had no room in the my garden beds. It seems this year I've under estimated the amount of space needed.
Enjoy your weekend, stay cool in the heat.
Sending hugs to you and Mars.
Sandy
Sandy, lol If I were gonna have to slap my mama I'd better be able to run! But yeah, it was seriously good.
DeleteWe seem to be going from extreme to extreme this year with the weather. What the heck happened to spring????
As for underestimated garden space, girl you know it's going to happen. If you can believe it, Mars is adding three more rows to the upper garden. I'm definitely not going to run out of room this year.
Take Care and Hugs to you 'n yours,
Sci
This definitely goes in the try this pile, sounds good, hubby loves Spanish rice. In a previous post you mentioned hot peppers, my hubby loves them and he starts them in the house in March then plants them in pots and keeps them in the hottest spot on the place. We live in Idaho and usually that is the east side wall right up against the house where the sun radiates off the side. Works better for him than the years we tried to grow in the garden. Thanks for the recipe
ReplyDeleteKathy,
DeleteYou know a couple of years back Mars started some pepper's in pots. They did real well and we were able to overwinter them in the greenhouse. This year (last year too) I cheated and bought serrano, jalapeno and bell pepper plants. Last year all the pepper plants did crazy good. This year I've lost close to half that I've bought. Something seems to be eating the stems off at ground level. I've put D.E. out around them and so far that seems to be working on the few that are left!
I hope you enjoy the recipe. I think I'll definitely be making this dish again!
Thanks for stopping by!
Sci