I once heard someone say “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep”. Well, although I am not an artist per se, I experienced the first part of this quote firsthand this past week. As usual, I was making a client’s meals for the week and one of the side dishes on the menu was Spanish Rice. For some unknown reason, I had a blonde moment; actually I have quite a few “blonde moments” these days. Yes, I have naturally dark hair, no offense to the beautiful blondies out there! But I have been debating fibbing the truth and saying I dye my hair dark brown to help cover up my ditziness….but lying never gets you anywhere. Anyway, I digress. SO I didn’t follow the recipe I was using!

Don’t you hate it when you realize you mess up or skipped a part when following a recipe?! Yeah, well it feels about 100,000 times worse when you do it while cooking for someone else, and especially at the end of a long day of cooking, when you are just about finished! I must have been in auto-pilot mode and made a whole batch of basmati rice, instead of preparing long-grained rice, Spanish style! I quickly stopped sulking, gathered myself and my wizardry skills (as one of my best friends refers to them) and figured out how to save this side dish. And guess what?! Not only was it just as good as if I used the original method, but my mistake ended up making things so much easier! (The long-grained rice takes MUCH longer!)

I will never cook Spanish Rice any other way. And it was too good and too easy not to share! So, get ready to get lazy and eat some delicious food, all in the comfort of your own home!

Lazy Woman’s Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked white basmati rice

1/4 cup onion, minced

2 cloves garlic

3-4 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

7 oz jar diced green chilis

1/4-1/2 cup tomato puree

1/2 cup frozen peas

Scallions and cilantro for garnish (not shown in picture as my client is not a fan)

Directions:

1. Saute onion and garlic until soft.
2. Add tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, chili powder and diced green chilis. Stir and cook for about 30 seconds.
3. Add cooked rice and tomato puree (be sure not to add too much, do a little at a time).
4. Cook for about 10 minutes then add frozen peas and cook until heated through.
5. Garnish with scallions and cilantro if desired.

* You could easily turn this into paella – just add shredded chicken and shrimp or chorizo (or a combination of any of those) and you’re all set!

Click here to download a printable copy of the Lazy Woman’s Spanish Rice Recipe