Intro to Cooking: Spanish Rice

By Michelle

Spanish rice is one of my absolute favorite quick meals — you can cram tons of veggies and whole grains into your diet with one spicy dish. It’s also super easy to add some chicken or tilapia for some extra protein. Either way, my recipe for Spanish rice will rapidly become one of your most-made dishes. I promise.

I really strongly encourage you to use brown rice in this recipe. If you hate the taste, you can of course use white rice — but brown rice is, hands down, much healthier for you. The more whole grains you have in your diet, the healthier you’ll be. With the addition of fresh tomatoes, peppers, and spinach, this recipe will give you plenty of servings of veggies and much-needed vitamins.

Spanish Rice

You’ll need…

• 1 packet of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice, Brown Rice
• about 1/4 cup of your favorite salsa
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• about 1/3 package of spinach
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• about 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce (Tabasco makes a really good adobo in a bottle!)

How to make it…

Prepare rice according to package instructions — usually, you just tear the package open a little and microwave for 90 seconds.

While the rice is in the microwave, warm a pan with a spray of nonstick cooking spray or a splash of olive oil. Add tomatoes, peppers, and jalapeno. Cook until slightly soft (but not mushy). Add salsa and adobo sauce. Add spinach and allow to wilt.

In a large bowl, combine the brown rice and the veggie-salsa mixture. You might need to microwave for another few seconds for the rice to absorb some of the moisture. But otherwise, once you’ve stirred it up, it’s ready to eat by itself or alongside your favorite protein!

Enjoy!

Note: This recipe makes about 3 servings and can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.