Mexican Haystacks

I've finally FOUND it!!  The Mexican rice recipe for me!  I've always loved that flavorful rice that restaurants serve with refried beans next to enchiladas or whatever, but I haven't been able to recreate it.  Devin used to sell some that I really liked, but you start that by buying infused rice, which I'm sure is totally expensive.  And he doesn't even sell it anymore, so I can forget about him bringing any home for me.

Anyway, last night I finally found a good one here on damndelicious.net.  It seems like I found another good recipe off this site recently.  True to the name, I guess.  So, here's my version, since I skipped a lot of the vegetables & stuff they called for.

1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 c rice*
1 can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp chicken base
1 1/2 c water
1/4 tsp (ish) cumin**
salt & pepper to taste
fresh cilantro (optional - I didn't have any)


*It called for basmati.  I used long grain, since that's all I had.  I'm sure it'd be great with basmati.
**It also called for 1/4 tsp chili powder, but I was out.  I think the kids may have complained if I'd had the chili powder, so I may just leave it out in the future.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet (that has a lid!) & saute onions.  Add garlic toward the end so it doesn't scorch.  When onions are translucent, stir in rice until toasted (just a couple minutes).  Add everything else except cilantro.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat TO LOW & simmer until rice is cooked.  BE CAREFUL not to let it go too long.  This said 13-16 mins, but I would maybe check after 10.  The whole bottom layer of my rice burned onto the pan.  D'oh!  And that's not the first time I've done that with this type of recipe.  Stupid stove.  Always blame it on the stove.

Ok, now you'll need some other stuff to put on your haystacks.  I used black beans, fresh tomatoes, cheese, "guac" which turned out to just be packaged smashed avocados, sour cream, & crunched up tortilla chips.  Salsa would be good, especially if you're eating it from food storage & don't have fresh stuff.

For the black beans I just threw one can (drained & rinsed) in a saucepan and added minced garlic, onion powder, salt & pepper, & a little chicken broth.  I let them sit on medium heat for a while & they were pretty good.  Next time I might try harder, but they were totally fine.

Everyone ate and loved this meal, including Devin, who said so maybe three or four times.  You know that guy - easy to please, hard to impress.  So I was super happy about that.  And I think that rice would be great by itself for lunch or a side dish.  I love it!!

Oh! Adapt this for food storage too! Yay!