Delightful Rice
I needed something different, and I remembered a dish an older woman in my life used to make. She called it Spanish rice. I’m sure it’s not very authentically Spanish, but I decided to start with her base recipe, and take it from there.
The result was delicious beyond measure. This is now one of my go-to dishes, however, it’s not a very photogenic dish. So you’ll have to settle for images of its ingredients.
Here you go!
Delightful Rice
Ingredients for the Rice
1 cup brown rice
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon reduced sodium tamari
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Method for the Rice
Put all ingredients into rice cooker, set for brown rice.
OR put all ingredients into a pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the liquid is all gone and the rice is tender but not mushy. Add more broth if needed. Do not drain rice. If you do it right, it takes all the liquid to cook it. It will absorb excess but don’t go over by much or it’ll be mushy.
Ingredients for the Rest
About 3 cups of the cooked rice (above.)
32 oz stewed or diced canned tomatoes. I used a home canned quart jar full
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can lentils
1 small can tomato paste
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon reduced sodium tamari
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
A little vegetable broth for de-glazing
Method for the Rest
Heat a quality frying pan over medium high heat until a drop of water dances and beads. No oil or spray required. Trust me.
Pour all the vegetables into the hot pan. Stir slowly but continually as they sauté. When the onions get translucent, and things start sticking, add a splash of veggie broth to deglaze. You can put on a lid at this point to speed the cooking.
Add a can of drained and rinsed black beans and the lentils when the veggies are done.
Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, and stir while simmering until all ingredients are well combined. (You have to stir a lot to get the paste stirred in thoroughly.)
Add the seasonings, and continue stirring, simmering.
Add the cooked rice, stir to combine.
Serving Suggestions
We had bowls full for dinner. It was so filling, I couldn’t finish. Hubs used tortilla chips as spoons. :)
Meanwhile, in my real job…
(Sound up!)