Food Friday - Rice Is Nice!

At 104 degrees, it is now too hot to be outside cooking on the grill so I am back inside, but trying not to generate too much heat in the kitchen.  Salads and one pot meals are the name of the game at house these days.  And eating out, probably too often.

This week's recipe is an old favorite of mine from Southern Living.  Shortly after I was married the first time in 1983, my mom gave me a subscription to Southern Living magazine as a Christmas gift. She continued to renew it every year until her death in 2006 at which point I became responsible for my own annual subscription.  Though I am a confessed magazine junkie, over the past few years I have started taking fewer and fewer magazines, mostly because I just don't have time to read them all.    And the ones for which I have maintained a subscription, I now receive digitally...except Southern Living.  It still comes in the mail.  I guess there is a little bit of nostalgia going on.  Even though I now pay for the magazine myself, it still seems like a gift from my mom.  And I look forward to every new issue.

The Brown Rice and Sausage Skillet recipe is one that I copied by hand into a spiral cookbook of my favorite recipes.  I credited Southern Living,  but not the exact issue, and I am too lazy to go back through the annual cookbooks and look for it.  Sorry!  I have made a few adaptations to this over the years, which I will also share.

INGREDIENTS

16 oz. smoked sausage
1 medium sized green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Cup chicken broth
2 Cups quick cooking brown rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

With the exception of the sausage, most of these ingredients are kitchen staples or have an easy substitute that is.  As far as I am concerned, you can add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to just about any other combination of ingredients and create a decent meal, so I always have these on hand.

The first step is to saute the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat.  In the past, I have used smoked pork kielbasa,  but recently, I have been using the non-cured smoked turkey kielbasa.  Taste-wise it works great, but because of its lower fat content, it requires the addition of a little fat for sautéing.

Because the intent is to lightly brown the sausage, I use just a little bit of butter to aid in the browning.  The original recipe says then to drain the sausage on a paper towel and reserve a tablespoon of drippings in which to saute the veggies.  Again, when using turkey sausage there are no drippings so it is necessary to use a little olive oil for this.

Chop the onion and green pepper and mince the garlic.

Combine and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth to the veggies and bring to a boil.  I often use vegetable broth because that is what I regularly have on hand.  Any kind of broth will do, as will water and a little extra seasoning in a pinch.  Once the mixture comes to a boil, add the rice, salt, pepper, and sausage.  I use Minute brand brown rice because I keep that on hand to feed our )spoiled) dog.  Really, you can use any kind of rice, quick cooking or not, just adjust your liquid amount and cooking time accordingly.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about five minutes or until the rice is tender.

Serve with a garnish of fresh parsley if desired.

This dish does double duty in that it is just as good as leftovers so works for dinner one night and then a lunch box lunch the next day.

If you have to cook on these hot summer days, this one pot meal is quick and doesn't generate too much heat in the kitchen.  Serve with a fresh salad for a cool and healthy side dish.




by Tracey G,

I didn't like Spanish Rice growing up, all the recipes seemed to involve green pepper etc and I just never cared for it, not sure why, there was just a taste I didn't like. Then one day, I ran across this recipe in Taste of Home (I think, it's been so long!) and it sounded a bit different. So, after a few modifications, I made it and fell in love with it! LOL And it was easy, so it got even better. ;-) I discovered I could throw this together quickly - once or twice it was a last minute addition to my meal and it was done right on time with everything else. Usually I make it on "Taco Night", lol, it goes really well as a side dish, and it's been known to be used as a condiment on top of beef nachos, lol.

The ingredient list is super simple, once again it's usually stuff I have on hand. One thing though, it's supposed to use canned diced tomatoes with chilies, but that was a bit much for Harry, so I switched to just a regular can of diced tomatoes, well, I should say I usually use the "petite" diced. ;-) Anyway, on with the ingredients, starting in the center and going clockwise - instant rice, diced garlic, olive oil, chopped oil, beef broth, canned diced tomatoes, salt, cumin, sugar, chili powder and oregano.

To start, you sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender. I start the onions first so they have plenty of time to get clear and soft - then I add the garlic and give it one to two minutes.  

Next step is to add the instant rice to the pan, it gets sautéed for a couple minutes.

Now you add everything else - the broth, tomatoes and the dry seasonings. 

Stir to combine everything well. At this point I take a taste, to make sure it's seasoned the way I want it to be - if I feel it needs some extra of whatever I add it until I get it to the flavor I'm looking for. :-) Bring it to a boil, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered another 5 minutes. Stir before you serve and that's it.

Here's the recipe:

Quick Spanish Rice

serves 4-6

1/2 c chopped onion

2-3 cloves garlic minced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 c uncooked instant rice

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with chilies, undrained

1 14 oz can beef broth

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp dried oregano

In a large saucepan saute onion and garlic in olive oil 2-3 minutes until tender. Add rice, cook and stir for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, broth, chili powder, salt, sugar, cumin and oregano. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, let stand 5 minutes.