Quick and Easy Spanish Rice

We are well into barbecue season, which is great. When the sun is out, we tend to grill our dinner rather than cook something inside. As much as I love having steak or chicken on the barbecue, I haven't been very creative with the sides that we have with the meat. Usually we just toss some potatoes on the grill, or some sort of rice dish that is usually (and unfortunately) rather boring - usually just some veggies and herbs without much pizzazz.

I was thinking about Spanish rice the other day and thought it would be a nice change from our usual boring old rice and thought I'd try to toss some together with what I had in my cupboards and fridge. It turned out really well. It's so nice to have something new and tasty in the rotation that's also easy to make!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup of brown Minute Rice
• 1/4 cup of red onion, finely chopped
• 1 handful of cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of chili powder (or less if you don't like too much heat)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 3/4 cups of chicken broth
• Several tablespoons of olive oil

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion until it softens. Add the Minute Rice, tomatoes, chili powder and cumin and stir well to coat the rice with the oil. Heat for several minutes until the rice becomes toasted.

Add the chicken broth. Turn the heat up until the mixture comes to a boil, then turn the heat onto low, cover, and let it simmer until the broth is absorbed by the rice and the rice becomes tender. 

Feel free to use another type of long-grain rice (though if it's not a quick-cook rice, you'll have to simmer it for longer). The next time I make this, I'm going to try using some salsa instead of just diced tomato, and I think I'm going to add some jalapenos too. Yum!

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