According to Mrs. CB, Momma Stella made Spanish Rice fairly often and she was often drafted to be the rice “stirrer”. “I’m not much of a cook, but I was a good stirrer,” confesses Mrs. CB.
So last night, I suggested making fish tacos and Mrs. CB volunteered to cook Momma Stella’s version of Spanish Rice (which is also known as Mexican Rice). This is a simple, inexpensive and tasty side dish.
Mrs. CB made the Spanish rice while I took a few photos and asked questions about what she was doing and why. Now, this tends to exasperate Mrs. CB who thought I might be trying to micro-manage while what I was really trying to do was channel my inner Guy Fieri on “Triple D”. Invariably Mrs. CB answered each of my questions with either “Because that’s what my Mom said to do” or “I don’t know,” both while brandishing a wooden spatula in a most intimidating fashion.
Now there are a couple of reasons why the rice was cooked first and then the fish tacos. One is that it can sit and slowly simmer while the rest of the meal is prepared and the other is that there is probably not a kitchen big enough anywhere to accommodate the 2 of us cooking at the same time.
Now I imagine that we’re not the only couple like that out there. We’ve got a tiny kitchen to begin with and it’s pretty tight quarters with both of us there, surrounded by access to sharp objects and no maneuvering room.
But, the fish tacos got made—and devoured and the Spanish rice/Mexican rice came out tasty (by the way many recipes say to cook it until it’s fluffy but we like it a bit clumpy).
So, courtesy of both Mrs. CB and Momma Stella, here’s our version of Spanish Rice or Mexican Rice.
Recipe: Momma Stella’s Spanish Rice
Summary: Spanish Rice is also called Mexican Rice. It’s a quick, easy and really tasty dish that you can make anytime to go with a meal.
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grained rice
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth or water
- 1-2 tbsp cooking oil
- Garlic
- Cumin
- 1 tsp Chili powder
- Salt
Instructions
- Get out a skillet and a good size sauce pan plus cutting board and chef’s knife.
- Dice the onion.
- Put the skillet on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Add the cooking oil.
- Put the sauce pan on another burner turned to low and put in the tomato sauce, broth and about half a teaspoon of salt.
- Add the rice to the skillet and start stirring it. Stir it for a couple of minutes until it starts to give off a toasty aroma.
- Add the onions and keep stirring. Add the garlic and cumin.
- Stir until the onions are translucent and the aroma is rich and fragrant—8-10 minutes total.
- Now take the skillet of rice and dump it into the sauce pan of tomato sauce/broth. Cover and set the heat so that it’s just barely simmering.
- Let it slowly simmer until the liquid is reduce and absorbed in the rice. We like “clumpy” but others like it fully absorbed so it’s fluffy which takes longer.
- Remove from the heat and serve.
- NOTE: You can also do this all in one pan. Just toast the rice, add the seasonings, reduce the heat to low and then add the tomatoes & broth to the skillet. Cover and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
We enjoyed this last night with fish tacos and fresh pico de gallo. It was a terrific weeknight meal that was light, filling and tasty. If you’d like the recipe for Cheap Bastid’s “Baja Fish Tacos”, here’s the link: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/baja-fish-tacos/
And, if you wanted to turn this into a full meal, just add about 12 oz. of browned, seasoned ground beef or shredded chicken when you add the rice and tomato sauce mix together. Then cook it down and you can plop the results in a corn or flour tortilla along with a bit of shredded cheese and you’ll have a tasty rice and meat taco.
The Cheap Bastid Test: This is really inexpensive. The rice cost about $.25 and the tomato sauce cost $.33. Add $.25 for the broth and another $.25 for the onion and spices and you come up with a total of $1.08 for this simple, quick and tasty dish.
I like that you went with tomato sauce instead of crushed or chopped or (GASP) whole canned tomatoes here. Growing up, Spanish Rice from a box mix with slimy canned tomatoes was the bane of my existence. To this day I still hate slimy chunks of tomato, even in salsa. It’s like putting slugs in your mouth — eww!
RubeRad, this is my wife’s recipe from her mother in Oceanside. Plus, I buy the canned Val Vita tomato sauce which has just a bit of jalapeno in it, at Stater Bros for 3 for $1 (8 oz). It’s my go to stuff and it’s also what I use for pizza sauce.
Just like my momma used to make, except she’d fry up some bacon (one piece for each of us if there was any money for such luxuries!), diced, and mix it into the rice just before it finished.
Leftovers (if any) were served with a fried egg on top and a side of green beans (from a can, natch, and topped with a little margarine).
Brings back great memories! Thanks!
This looks a lot like my mom’s Spanish rice, though it had a little bacon in it for flavor, and usually a liberal handful of shredded cheese melted on top. We’d have that with cornbread for dinner a lot when I was growing up. Mmmmm.
Sounds good! Thanks Rae. I’ve received several comments similar to yours today with recollections of various versions that came from their Mom’s kitchen.