Spanish Rice
This tasty and spicy Spanish Rice recipe is considered Mexican-style when adding flavors of chicken broth, onions, garlic, tomatoes, green chili and peas to the flavorful California Calrose white rice. I served this with chicken enchiladas, as the perfect complement. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups uncooked California Calrose white rice
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
14.5 ounce can of organic petite diced tomatoes
4 ounce can of fire roasted diced green chili
2 cups organic chicken broth
1 pinch Saffron threads, soaked in 2 tablespoons hot water for 10 minutes
¼ cup sliced stuffed green olives
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ancho chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot and add rice, onion and garlic. After the rice begins to turn opaque and golden brown (about 4 minutes), add remaining ingredients, stirring well.
Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes (no peaking), or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off heat and let rice sit for 5 minutes, covered, to finish steaming. Use a fork to fluff up the rice and serve.
By the way, any leftover Spanish rice is wonderful the next day, as long as you have stored it in the refrigerator.
Julie recently retired as the Finance & Administration Manager for the California Rice Commission, and is a big proponent of trying new recipes- especially if they feature California rice.
