Mommy Rocks - Kitchen Diva Part 2

As a kid growing up, one of my favorite dishes was my Grandmothers, Spanish Rice. I loved it and I ate bowels and bowels of it. It was so light, yet hearty and I refused to eat anything else while visiting her, well except her mouth watering homemade tortillas. Sigh!!! My Mom, being the awesome Mommy she was, always tried to recreate my Grandmothers rice, but for some reason she never could quite get it right.

When I moved out and far, far away from my family to go to school I was forced to learn how to make this dish on my very own and over the years I have perfected it and I am happy to announce today, that mine is way better than my Grandmothers (Mom’s too!!!). This dish as you can imagine is usually made once a week in my household, everyone loves it!!!! Maybe you will too, Enjoy!

Michelle’s Spanish Rice
Ingredients
1 c. White rice (can use brown rice if prefer - just requires a little more chicken broth)
1 c. Chicken Broth
1 c. of tomato sauce (I have a thing for canned whole tomato’s, I enjoy blending up and making my own sauce)
1 c. Water
1 c. of frozen mixed vegetables
½ c of diced onion
1-2 Garlic Cloves - Minced
½ teaspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
A sprinkle of garlic salt
Another sprinkle of pepper

First things First………..

Get a medium to large skillet. Heat it on high for a few minutes, get it nice and hot once that is done reduce heat to medium/high.

Add the Olive Oil, let warm up and then add onion and garlic. Saute for a couple minutes, then add the rice. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring the rice continuously (if you let it sit and cook – it will burn). Rice will begin to turn a more vibrant white color when it's ready.

Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and water. Stir to combine. Add the garlic salt and pepper, stir. Let simmer for a few minutes and then add the vegetables. Stir vegetables into rice mixture, reduce heat to medium/low, put the lid on and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Since rice is real tricky to cook, I would recommend checking on it periodically. Once you see that most of the liquid has elaborated into the rice, just turn off the heat and set aside. The rest of the water will evaporate.

Options, Options, Options
Sometimes when I want to make this our main course I add chicken (cooked, left over) to the rice and then sprinkle it with a little pico-de-gallo. It’s tasty!