Six Food Intolerance Living

As promised in my last post, I will now give my Tweaked Spanish Rice recipe.

One of my Hubbys favorite childhood dishes is my Mother-in-Laws Spanish Rice. He just loves it. I made it a couple times and had to call her each time for the recipe! I would write it down and lose it or scribble it so poorly that I couldn't read my own writing later. Well, one day, I wanted to make it, couldn't find her recipe and couldn't get a hold of her (she and my Father-in-Law often go camping in places where they do not have cell reception). Anyway, I Googled "Spanish Rice" and came across this recipe from a lady named Elise. I really liked hers, but I tweaked it a bit to give it a bit more "umph" and switched around the cooking method a bit to work a bit better for me. Here is my take on her original recipe:

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Tweaked Spanish Rice
Originally by Elise, Tweaked by Clara
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups of jasmine rice
3 cups chicken stock (if using different type of rice, check the rice to liquid ratio for your rice)
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1 small can of sliced or chopped black olives, drained (I think this is a 4 or 6 oz can?)
Hearty sprinkle of Adobo powder (maybe half a teaspoon?)
Splash of lime
1 teaspoon salt
Optional: Cilantro, one quarter to half a bunch, chopped
Optional: Tomatoes, diced

Directions:
In a pot, add chicken stock, tomato paste, splash of lime juice, and salt, stir and bring stock to a boil.

In a separate large skillet, brown rice in olive oil, on medium/high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened. Toss in black olives, a sprinkle of Adobo powder and optional cilantro and/or tomatoes, stir.

Turn heat in skillet off, wait for a minute or so.

Add boiling broth to rice mixture, give it a quick stir and cover the skillet (you have to turn the heat off and wait otherwise the boiling water into a super hot pan will cause the boiling water to boil even more and jump out of the pan onto your stovetop and burn your hand ... ask me how I know!).

Turn heat back on low, just to a simmer.

Cook about 20 minutes more or until all the liquid is absorbed.
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When I'm having this dish with the Tacos, I usually leave out the tomatoes. But, this also makes a great accompaniment to eggs in the morning for breakfast, in which case I sometimes add the tomatoes in to make it more hardy. I'll even add diced zucchini, asparagus or mushrooms if I have them on hand. The cilantro addition is something that adds A LOT of flavor. Personally, I really like it, but it was too strong for Hubby, so I don't usually put it in.

Oh, and if your not familar with Adobo powder, it is simply a mixture of Hispanic spices. I find it in the Hispanic section of the grocery store. It looks like this:
Now, look carefully when you are purchasing this. There are a lot of variations - with cumin, with lemon, with pepper, etc. I buy it just plain old Adobo, without pepper. It is also really good sprinkled in your salsa, guacamole, refried beans or on black beans. Just be light with it. It is pretty salty and very flavorful. A little goes a long way with this stuff!

As usual, if you try this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!