{"id":743,"date":"2010-04-25T19:42:14","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T19:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=743"},"modified":"2010-04-25T19:42:14","modified_gmt":"2010-04-25T19:42:14","slug":"mexican-rice-made-with-brown-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/mexican-rice-made-with-brown-rice\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexican Rice (made with brown rice)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Since this recipe uses brown rice rather than white, it&#8217;s made like a fried rice.\u00a0 The vegetables would turn to complete mush if they were simmered with the brown rice until it was done.\u00a0 Instead, the vegetables are sauteed briefly before being fried with day-old rice.\u00a0 So be sure to cook the rice in advance&#8211;or employ this recipe when you have leftover rice to use up. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This recipe is also part of the taco bar described in <a href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/25\/easy-entertaining-build-your-own-taco-bar\/\" target=\"_blank\">Easy Entertaining:\u00a0 Make Your Own Taco Bar<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 Tbsp. safflower or other unflavored oil<\/li>\n<li>1 med. yellow onion, diced to \u00bc\u201d<\/li>\n<li>1 med. green bell pepper, diced to \u00bc\u201d<\/li>\n<li>3 med. tomatoes, seeds and juices removed, then diced to to \u00bd\u201d<\/li>\n<li>1 tsp. chili powder, more or less, to taste<\/li>\n<li>2 tsp. garlic, minced (bottled is fine)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Saute Vegetables and Spices<\/em> In a very large, (12-13\u201d) heavy-bottomed saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.\u00a0 Add onions and cook and stir fairly often for just 2-3 minutes.\u00a0 Do the same for the green peppers, then lower heat to medium, stir in tomatoes and cook and stir just 2-3 minutes until they are just beginning to soften and dry out.\u00a0 Sprinkle chili powder and garlic over vegetables and cook another 2 minutes to meld flavors.\u00a0 Remove vegetable mixture to a large serving bowl.\u00a0 If pan is dirty, rinse.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 Tbsp. safflower or other unflavored oil<\/li>\n<li>3 cups brown rice, preferably 2-3 days old<\/li>\n<li>2 Tbsp. tomato paste blended with about \u00bc cup hot water, broth or cooking liquid from beans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Fry the Rice<\/em> Pour oil into center of saute pan and heat over medium heat until hot but not smoking.\u00a0 Add rice, breaking up clumps and spreading evenly over pan.\u00a0 Allow to cook 3-4 minutes and brown slightly before turning.\u00a0 Cook another 3-4 minutes.\u00a0 Pour tomato paste mixture evenly over rice, then continue frying, stirring and scraping bottom of pan until everything is well-mixed and heated through.\u00a0 Stir in reserved vegetables.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sea salt, to taste (about \u00bd tsp., depending upon whether rice was cooked in salt)<\/li>\n<li>1-2 limes, juiced (2 to 4 Tbsp.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Season &amp; Serve<\/em> Taste and add salt, to taste, then sprinkle with lime juice, to taste.<\/p>\n<p>________________<\/p>\n<p><em>Serves<\/em>: \u00a0 4 as a vegetarian main dish, 6-8 as a side dish<\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and Variations<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make It a One-Dish Meal:\u00a0 Corn, shrimp (cooked and diced), black beans (rinsed and well drained) or even cooked hamburger or TVP can be added, making this dish substantial enough to serve as an entree.<\/li>\n<li>Tofu Version:\u00a0 Speaking of main dishes, tofu can be substituted for the rice to make a vegetarian entree or taco filling.\u00a0 In this case, the tomatoes and tomato paste are optional.<\/li>\n<li>Wrap It in a Tortilla:\u00a0 Great for a quick lunch.\u00a0 Be sure to use whole grain tortialls.<\/li>\n<li>Optional Garnishes:\u00a0 In addition to fresh lime juice, top with any of chopped fresh cilantro, cheese, sour cream, guacamole or avocados.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Ingredient Notes for Better Success<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Rice:\u00a0 Use Brown and Leftover<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brown is Best:\u00a0 Although Mexican rice is typically made with white rice, brown rice is far more nutritious and so flavorful that no one (especially kids) will notice or complain.\u00a0 Long grain brown will be fluffier and less sticky, but I\u2019ve had good success with short grain brown, as long as it is at least a day old and cold.<\/li>\n<li>Leftover Is Best:\u00a0 Somewhat like stir-fried rice, this recipe works best with rice that\u2019s one (or two or three) days old.\u00a0 So plan to cook a batch in advance or employ this recipe to use up a leftover batch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>2. Vegetable Prepping:\u00a0 Complete Before Cooking<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:30px;\">Also like fried rice, the vegetables in this dish are sauteed over high heat so they are practically stir-fried.\u00a0 So, as with stir-fry, be sure to prep all the vegetables before beginning to cook, so they can be added quickly and your attention can be focused on burn prevention.<\/p>\n<p>3. Tomatoes:\u00a0 Get Rid of Seeds and Juice<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:30px;\">To prevent the rice from becoming gummy and sticky, use a small spoon to scoop the seeds and juices from tomatoes, so that only the outer flesh remains.\u00a0 Reserve the tomato \u201cinnards\u201d for use in another dish, like taco filling or chili.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since this recipe uses brown rice rather than white, it&#8217;s made like a fried rice.\u00a0 The vegetables would turn to complete mush if they were simmered with the brown rice until it was done.\u00a0 Instead, the vegetables are sauteed briefly before being fried with day-old rice.\u00a0 So be sure to cook the rice in advance&#8211;or &#8230; <a title=\"Mexican Rice (made with brown rice)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/mexican-rice-made-with-brown-rice\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,20,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-cooking-basics","category-recipes","category-uncategorized","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}