Mexican Rice

I still use my mom’s Mexican rice as my gold standard. Although not necessarily authentic, I enjoy it and it is similar to what restaurants usually serve. However, I’ve never learned exactly how she does it—she was supposed to show me last time I visited, but we got sidetracked.

Most recipes call for tomato sauce, which tends to leave the rice too wet for my taste, so I knew I wanted to use tomato paste. This website was a great resource in getting started. Here’s what I ended up doing:

Ingredients:

• 1 c. brown rice
• 1 T. oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 t. cumin
• 1-2 T. tomato paste
• Salt to taste

Cook brown rice with bay leaf, according to package directions. Sautee onion and garlic. Add chili powder and cumin, cook one minute. Add tomato paste and mix, then add rice and incorporate mixture well. Add salt as needed.

Comments: I added the cumin and chili powder based on an old recipe I had, and thought the rice was a bit overpowering. The website I found (later) cautioned against using too many seasonings in rice for this reason. Next time, I would omit the chili powder and cumin It was still a bit wetter than I’d like, I remember my mom saying she made it more like a pilaf with tomato, so maybe I will try that next time. But so far, it’s the best I’ve made.