Saturday Recipe Share: Easiest Spanish Rice

I've given you a lot of Tex-Mex recipes in the past because I often cook with that flavor profile. Sometimes, I've said to "serve with Spanish Rice" so today, I'm giving you a simple, fool-proof recipe for Spanish Rice.

I've found that it's super easy to use my Crock Pot® for this too. My slow cookers are Crock Pot® brand so when I say Crock Pot®, I mean slow cooker.

Transform Spanish Rice Into Entree

You can kick this recipe up another notch and make it an entree by simply adding 1 1/2 pounds of browned ground beef to the Crock Pot® with the other ingredients. Just be sure to drain the fat from the cooked ground beef before adding to the slow cooker.

Another option is to add some whole kernel corn. The kind that comes with red and green pepppers in it, like Green Giant MexiCorn. Just heat the corn separately, drain, and add to the Crock Pot® at the end of the cooking cycle. Stir to blend.

Spanish Rice

A note about the salt in this recipe. Most of the population seems to like more salt than I put in recipes. If you think the salt is not enough, wait until it's cooked. Taste it, then add more if needed. The Bouillon Base I use is salty so the half teaspoon of salt and the teaspoon of beef base is usually salty enough to my family's taste buds.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped (medium dice is good)
• 1 bell pepper or poblano pepper, chopped small (poblano is rather mild and gives a different taste)
• 1 10-ounce can of Rotel Tomatoes, original or mild, your choice
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (if you don't like Rotel, use 2 cans of diced tomatoes)
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water

• 2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder (mild or hot, your choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon All Natural Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Beef Base
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice (I use "brown" rice, but you can use white)

Place all ingredients in your slow cooker. Stir thoroughly.

Cover and cook on low 7 to 9 hours. (If you forget to put this on in the morning, you can put it on around lunch time just cook it on high for 3 hours.)

Serve with a tossed salad of mixed greens, super thinly-sliced red onions, ripe tomatoes, and chopped jicama for extra crunch. I use a homemade salad dressing that tastes like Italian Dressing.

Garlic bread, warmed corn tortillas, or cornbread make this a feast.

Takeaway Truth

I use my Crock Pot® even on weekends. It just makes life easier.