Sopa de Arroz – Spanish Rice |

Grandma Joyce, the perpetual learner had quite the stash of recipes from cooking classes she took along the way. This is from her “Mexican Cooking Class” where they also learned some frijoles and enchiladas recipes…more on those later.

This rice is simple, fresh and delicious. A lot of rice recipes include chicken stock, so it is always nice to have one like this for your vegetarian friends. If you like the smokiness of Spanish rice you can brown it slightly longer than the recipe states. I’m not a huge fan of that, so that’s why I avoid browning the rice.

Try this with 5-Minute Enchilada Pie, Chile Relleno Squares or any of your favorite Mexican meals.

Sopa de Arroz

1 tomato, peeled*

1/2 medium onion

1 clove garlic

2 Tbsp butter or olive oil

1 cup long-grained rice

salt to taste (1/3 tsp)

In a blender puree tomato, onion, garlic and 3 Tbsp water. Heat oil and saute rice until it turns white. (You will notice that it will become slightly transparent when it is tossed with the oil but will begin turning white, piece by piece.) Add tomato mixture and salt. Fry for 1 minute then add 1 1/12 cup water. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Do not stir or uncover while cooking.

Rice should be tender. Fluff with a fork and uncover as soon as cooked through to prevent clumping.

*I have a serrated peeler, like this, that I absolutely love. It saved me from having to boil water, score the base of the tomato, blanch it, put it in an ice bath and peel it. Phew! That process is easy and great when you’re peeling a bunch of tomatoes for sauce, or peaches for a pie, but such a headache for just one tomato! If I didn’t own this handy tool, I probably would have left the peel on. You make the call.

Toss them in whole, let the blender do the work for you. (Tomato on the bottom is best as it’s juiciness will make it easier for the blender to do its job.)