Arroz Mexicano (Mexican Rice)

Hola! In honour of Cinco de Mayo, here is my version of Arroz Mexicano, or Mexican Rice. This is a very tasty way to make rice and a shortcut is to use frozen mixed veggies, or you can cut up carrots and green beans to go with either fresh off the cob, canned or frozen corn niblets and fresh frozen peas. The tomatoes and the roasted red peppers added at the end give the rice a pop of additional texture and together with the spices, add a lovely subtle flavour to the brown basmati rice cooked in the bouillon and tomato goodness. You can make this spicier by adding more of the chili powder and chili flakes. Buen Provecho!

The twist with my recipe is the brown basmati rice, which is used more in Indian recipes. I like the flavour and texture of basmati rice and how aromatic basmati rice is. I prefer brown basmati rice as it is less processed, is richer in fiber and contains higher amounts of VitE, Zinc, Potassium, Magnesium than the more processed white basmati rice. It’s important to up our nutrition where we can!

As always, when you make this recipe, please post a photo of your Arroz Mexicano goodness and tag my IG account or leave a comment with your thoughts!

Prep Time: 10 minutes / Cook time: 30 minutes / Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (alternate: grapeseed oil or avocado oil)

  • 3 Garlic Cloves – sliced

  • 1 Medium Cooking Onion - diced

  • 1 Cup Brown Basmati Rice (alternate: white basmati rice or a brown grain rice of your choice – cooking times may vary – see * note in How it’s Made)

  • 1 Cup Passata (strained tomatoes)

  • 1½ Cups Veggie Bouillon (alternate: chicken broth)

  • 1½ Cups Frozen Mixed Veggies (alternate: ½ cup each diced carrot, frozen peas, cut green beans, corn niblets)

  • ½ teaspoon Dried Parsley

  • ½ teaspoon Chili Powder

  • ¼ teaspoon Cumin

  • ¼ teaspoon Ground Coriander

  • 1/8 teaspoon Chili Flakes

  • ¼ teaspoon Herbamare (an Herbed Sea Salt – use regular sea salt if you don’t have Herbamare) and a few grinds of Black Pepper – to taste

  • 8 Heirloom Grape Tomatoes – halved (alternate: regular grape or cherry tomatoes)

  • 1/3 Cup Roasted Red Pepper

How It’s Made

  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

  • Add the garlic and the onion and cook, stirring and watching for a couple of minutes, until you see the garlic and onions are becoming lightly browned.

  • Add the rice to the pan and stir until the rice is nicely coated with the oil – a minute or two is fine.

  • Add in the veggie bouillon and the passata and stir until the mixture starts to simmer.

  • Stir in the frozen veggies and the spices. Season with the Herbamare (or sea salt) and give the mixture a few grinds of fresh pepper.

  • Bring this mixture to a rolling boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer until the rice is cooked soft. *Brown basmati rice takes about 20-25 minutes. Taste the rice after 20 minutes and if it is still not done, and the liquid is all absorbed, add a ½ cup of water, stir and let it continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Check again and repeat by adding ½ cups of water until the rice is cooked soft. Different types of rice and different stove temperatures will take different lengths of time.

  • Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste. If you have added a lot more water you may need to add more of the spices and grinds of black pepper for flavour.

  • When the rice is done, gently stir in the tomatoes and the roasted red pepper to heat through for a minute or two. Serve!

Enjoy!

Tip:

Leftovers of this rice are fabulous cold added to a lunch salad the next day, or reheated to use in tacos or a wrap!

Renata RichardsonComment