Spanish Rice

I have discovered a simple way to make Spanish rice a little healthier.  Now this is definitely not as good as the real thing, but it doesn’t take too much effort and there is no lard involved so that's a plus.

½ green bell pepper, diced

½ small yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic

1 cup brown rice (or white if you prefer)

2 cups water or chicken broth

1 tsp cumin, ground

1 can rotel tomatoes with chilies

Salt to taste

1 tsp olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a medium pot to medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened, then add the bell pepper and garlic and cook until the pepper is softened.  Pour in the water/broth and bring to a boil.  Add the rice and return to a boil.  Cover the pot and reduce the temperature to medium.  Cook for 15 minutes then remove the pot from the heat but leave the lid on.  Allow the rice to sit, with the lid on, for another 15 minutes.  All of the water should be absorbed by then and you should have fluffy rice.  Add the cumin, rotel and salt to taste.  The seasoning is kind of what makes this dish, so if it’s under seasoned it won’t be good.  Add more cumin if you think it needs it and don’t be afraid with the salt, add a little at a time and taste, I think I used about ½ tsp.  You can return the rice to the burner on medium for a couple minutes to cook out some of the tomato juice if it looks soupy.

Serves 4, 200 calories, 3 g fat