Spanish Rice with Leftover Rice

Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo yesterday?  We, like most people, did not have anything planned and I didn't even have anything in mind to cook yesterday.  When Bruce brought it up, I said, "I wouldn't mind a margarita, I guess."   Well, one thing led to another and before we knew it, Bruce was making some homemade nachos, plus the margaritas and I made this recipe for Spanish rice because we had some leftover rice in the fridge.

I've never made Spanish rice, actually.  We haven't been to a Mexican restaurant in ages and I realized I was craving some typical Mexican restaurant-style accompaniments.  I searched for recipes and found this one from PBS Food.  It's a site for parents giving ideas for recipes your kids will like.  I guess that's why I liked this recipe so much.  It's kid-tested!  It actually tastes just like the rice you get at a Mexican restaurant on the side with your entree and refried beans.  We loved it.

Bruce really got into making the nachos by layering the chips with leftover taco meat (we had just eaten tacos for dinner recently which is why I wasn't particularly feeling like Mexican food - but I was feeling like the restaurant-style accompaniments), salsa, refried beans and grated cheddar cheese and made about three layers of those.  Then he heated it up in the oven.  When it was heated through and the cheese melted, he added sliced black olives, avocados, sour cream, and chopped green onions.

They were really good.  There were no "naked" chips like you get with restaurant nachos, you know, a chip with nothing on it so then you have to search for some gooey stuff to scoop onto it before you eat it.  We opened a can of refried beans, along with my Spanish rice and it was a great meal considering we had nothing planned.

It was really warm outside last night, too, so it made for a great evening sipping our margaritas and eating our homemade nachos, along with my new Spanish rice recipe.  We will do this more often as the weather continues to warm up.  Something to look forward to in these weird times of stay-at-home.  If you have leftover rice in the fridge, this is a great way to use it up.  And it goes down real well with a homemade margarita here.  You might even believe you're back at your favorite Mexican restaurant.

6 Servings

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, medium dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. cumin
1/2 Tbsp. coriander
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Heat the oil in a medium or large pot and saute the onion for 5 minutes.

2.  Add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, coriander, and paprika and cook for one minute.

3.  Stir in the chicken broth and stir to scrape up the little bits of stuck particles on the pan.

4.  Add the cooked rice and continue stirring, breaking up the rice until it is all evenly dispersed.

5.  Reduce the heat to medium low and allow the rice to absorb the liquid and seasonings.  Add more broth, if needed.

6.  Fluff the rice and season with salt and pepper, as needed.  Garnish with chopped green onions.