Spanish Brown Rice

I thought I would cheat and buy a packaged low-sodium Spanish rice to serve as a side dish with my fajita meal. No surprise, I could not find one packaged product that had less than 700mg of sodium per serving. Some had over 1,000mg of sodium per serving. So I set out to buy the ingredients and make my own homemade Spanish rice.

My rice is just as good as any packaged product I ever bought so I thought I would share the recipe with you. The rice is made with an instant brown rice (Uncle Ben’s Natural whole Grain Instant Brown Rice – not sure how another brand would do), sautéed red onion, fire roasted tomatoes, beef broth, canned chopped chilies, ground cumin and cilantro. And by the way, it is just as easy to prepare.

Enjoy!

Makes about 6-7 servings

1 Tbls. Extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbls. Diced red onion, 1/4 inch dice
1 Tsp. Ground cumin
1 (14.5 ounce) Can Fire Roasted diced tomatoes, no salt added variety
1 ¼ Cup Beef broth, no fat – reduced sodium variety
1 ¼ Cup Natural Whole Grain Instant Brown Rice (Uncle Ben’s brand)
1 (4.25 ounce) Can Diced Green chilies
2 Tbls. Chopped cilantro

Place a 2.5 qt. sauce pan over medium heat. Add the oil and onions; sauté until translucent.

Add the cumin and stir. Then add the tomatoes and beef broth; bring to a boil. Add the rice, stir, cover and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for about 12 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.

Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the canned chilies, cover and set aside for about 5 minutes. When ready to serve stir in the cilantro and fluff the rice with a fork.