Ahhh, Spanish rice. Or rice, as a “Mexican food enthusiast” would call it. Hah. Check out what wikipedia says about “Spanish” rice:
“Although called “Spanish rice”, this dish is unknown in Spain.The term “Spanish rice” is not used by Mexicans or Mexican food enthusiasts, and its use probably stems from the fact that the Spanish language is spoken in Mexico; the dish is usually simply referred to as arroz (“rice”) in Mexico.”
My head is spinning from too many quotation marks. Wooo! Okay, you’ll only need nine (ten if you count squeezing some limes onto your rice) ingredients to make this tasty treat. Gather your blender or food processor and let’s do this!
Makes 8-10 servings.
Ingredients:
12 ounces canned tomatoes 1 medium white onion (chopped into several chunks) 3 medium jalapenos (minced) 2 cups long grain white rice 1/3 cup canola oil 4 minced garlic cloves 2 cups chicken broth 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced 1 lime (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a blender or a food processor, add your canned tomatoes and your onion. Process until pureed. Transfer mixture to measuring cup and reserve exactly 2 cups (discard any excess).
3. Mince your garlic and set aside in a bowl.
4. Using gloves, mince your jalapeno and remove the seeds. Set aside in the same bowl as the garlic.
5. Mince the cilantro and set aside in its own bowl.
6. ***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT STEP – Rinse your rice in a fine mesh strainer!*** Rinsing your rice will remove the starch so that it is fluffy and not sticky. Place rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water for about 3 minutes. Shake rice vigorously to remove excess water.
7. Heat oil in a large pan or Dutch oven with tight fitting lid over medium-high heat about 2 minutes. Drop a few rice grains in – if they sizzle then you’re ready to start. Add the rest of your rice and fry, stirring until rice is light golden and translucent (about 7 minutes).
8. Reduce heat to medium and add your garlic and minced jalapenos. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes.
9. Stir in broth, the pureed mixture, and salt. Bring to a boil.
10. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for 35 minutes – until the liquid is fully absorbed. At 15 minutes, make sure to stir well.
11. Stir in the minced cilantro and squeeze some lime juice to taste (optional).
Step by step photos:
In a blender or food processor, add your tomatoes and chopped onion. Note: You can use fresh tomatoes for this recipe of course, but you just have to make sure that they are verrry ripe! Normally where I shop, the tomatoes are mostly relatively firm. Your rice simply will not taste its best if you use a more firm tomato. For this reason, I go with canned.
Also, I absolutely love my little Cuisinart food processor that you see above. You’re probably going to hear me talk about this fellow a lot. I live in an apartment and my kitchen space is pretty small. I simply do not have room for the average person’s appliances.. I need compact items! This fellow does the job perfectly. Two settings, 3 pieces to clean, fits perfectly in my little pantry. Here’s a link to him if you wanna check him out for yourself.
Cuisinart DLC-2ABC Mini-Prep Plus Food Processor, Brushed Chrome
Next, chop your garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro. I put my garlic and jalapeno in the same bowl because I’ll be adding them at the same time.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, USE GLOVES when chopping hot stuff! I can say from personal experience that not using gloves and chopping chiles and peppers is a baaaad move, yo. My hands were in a world of hurt and no olive oil, rubbing alcohol, or any other remedy really truly took the pain away. That was not a fun evening for removing my contacts, either. Wearing gloves is all you’ll need to do to avoid this world of hurt and you can buy a bunch of them for super cheap. Here’s a link to some:
Safetouch Powder Free Latex Exam Gloves, Non-Sterile, Medium
This next step may seem pointless, but it is not. Rinsing your rice with cold water in a fine mesh strainer for a few minutes (until it runs mostly clear) will remove the starch from it. Removing the starch will allow the rice to become fluffy when you cook it, instead of sticky. Sticky rice is great for some recipes, but not for this one. 
Next, heat some of the vegetable oil up in a large pan on medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add in a few grains of rice to see if they sizzle.. If they do, then you’re ready to go. Add in the rest of your rice and fry it for about 7 minutes. It should become light golden in color (the last picture above).
Next, lower your heat to medium and add in your minced garlic and jalapeno and stir that for a couple of minutes. Then, add your broth, pureed mixture, and salt. Bring that baby to a boil.
Cover up your pan of just boiled delicious mixture with a tight fitting lid and put it in youroven (set at 350 degrees). It should be in there for approximately 35 minutes, but make sure that at about 15 minutes you take the lid off, stir it up, and put it right back in there.
Once that half hour is up, remove that bad boy from the oven and longingly gaze at the beautiful rice you just made. Yes, you made this! Aren’t you amazing?? Then scarf it down with some chicken enchiladas. Then do a jig because there’s a delicious party is in your tummy.
