I love spanish rice. Ever since I was a kid and my mom was pinching pennies by serving up instant spanish rice with the cheapest sausages she could buy, I’ve loved it.

While I would have preferred living on instant spanish rice for the rest of my life, it’s no longer available in Canada (we used to get Minute Rice Instant, then it was generic store brands) so we’ve learned to make do. In a pinch, and although it’s rather expensive now, I’ll buy a Spanish Rice a Roni mix and use the seasoning packet with instant rice. No worries, I save the rice/roni for hamburger soup in the future. <|;^) Recently, my new favorite has been a single-skillet recipe I modified from one I found online some time ago. I don't always add the cheese, because I find I'd rather have it without the gooey stringy melty mess. Sometimes it's a nice change, though. This is a low-sodium recipe.

One-Skillet Spanish Rice

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
1 c basmati, uncooked
2 c water
1/2 tsp crushed oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 med onion, diced
1 each med green & red bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp olive oil
1/2 c taco sauce
1 c shredded Kraft TexMex cheese (or other, if you prefer – this is our favorite!)
1 lg can diced tomatoes (low-salt preferred)

Directions

Brown ground beef in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (such as cast iron) on medium heat. Drain off excess fat, add rice, water, oregano and pepper.

Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil, lower temperature to medium again.

Dice onion and peppers and toss with chili powder and cumin. Add to the beef and rice mixture, cover, and turn the heat down to low for 30 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, and increase heat just enough to return to a boil, then lower again.

When the rice has absorbed most of the moisture, turn off the heat entirely, sprinkle with cheese, and cover. Serves 4.

Hope you enjoy!

<3 JL