My style of cooking has changed dramatically since Baby G was born.

Before it was about the process, more specifically, about me enjoying a glass of wine throughout the process.

Now, it’s about getting it done, preferably way before dinner time since happy hour has turned into the witching hour.

I look at so many recipes now and think, that sounds awesome and I am NEVER going to do this.

That pretty much goes for any recipe that wants you to do stuff while it’s cooking, like saute meat and then add it to….oh, heck no! I am now a one-step cook! I like recipes that says things like, “combine all ingredients and turn on”.

Have the foodies stopped reading this post yet? Well, for any of you who haven’t rolled their eyes and huffed off on to your next blog, take this:

I modeled this recipe after Spanish rice in a pouch.

 

Yeah, that’s right. Super high class over here.

Now that the foodies have left the blog, let’s talk easy, homemade Spanish rice.

I used to love the stuff in a pouch, but I want something clean and a little healthier. After reading countless recipes that wanted me to do things like chop tomatoes and peppers and garlic, and then saute them, I figured there had to be an easier way. I want all of that flavor, but I don’t want to waste nap time chopping stuff for rice. I will chop stuff for entrees, but not side dishes. I have my limits.

Enter the jar of salsa: tomatoes, peppers, onions, (and in my case, black beans, and corn! All I have to do is unscrew the lid! Mix it with some spices, some broth, and brown rice, and you have an easy side dish that would make Uncle Ben proud.

 

Spanish Brown Rice
Tomato-ey, spicy brown rice in a rice cooker or not. A cleaner version of the Uncle Ben classic.

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Ingredients
2 cups brown rice
2 cups veggie broth
1 15.5 ounce jar of salsa
1 teaspoon cumin
[1/2] teaspoon smoked paprika
[1/2] teaspoon chili powder

Rice Cooker
Combine all ingredients in rice cooker. Use delay time feature if needed, and then select Brown Rice. When done, fluff with rice cooker spatula and serve.

Not rice cooker
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil. Cover for 45 minutes to 1 hour, and simmer on low. *
*Make sure to read directions on brown rice package as cooking time may vary.

Notes
We used the Badger Girl trinity of spices in this recipe- cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. You can sub in your favorite spices here. I would stick with cumin, but beyond that, have fun!

Badger Girl Learns to Cook by Kimberly Aime https://learntocookbadgergirl.com/
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

Recipe Review:

We loved it. We felt like we were eating junk food, but it was actually healthy for us. Don’t you love it?

spanish brown rice

As I mentioned, we used the trinity of spices: chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika. Smoked paprika is my favorite spice: it tastes how BBQ smells. It adds this great smokiness to the rice, but it’s subtle. All of the spices are subtle. It’s comfort food at its best.

We also used our homemade veggie broth which I highly recommend as it will taste like what you generally cook, in our case, lots of peppers and garlic. Don’t have time for homemade broth, but want less sodium? Try using water for half or all of the liquid.

We loved this rice so much, we froze half of it half right away so we wouldn’t eat it all. That’s the sign of a good dish in our house.

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The rice cooker is new to me, what dishes (aside from plain rice) do you like to make in it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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