Alrighty folks, this week it's Kumar's Spanish rice. I doubt it has much to do with Spain, but that's what they call it, so ...

This rice goes great in burritos. In fact, that's usually the only way I eat it. Burritos are Kumar's favorite food, so expect much more on this theme in the future. For now, just know you can add some beans, salsa, avocado, grilled veggies and/or whatever else in a tortilla and you'll have yourself a fantastic burrito. It also goes great with refried beans in a meal known as "rice and beans."

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups long-grain white rice
1 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 cup tomato sauce
1 medium-sized yellow onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (chopped or pressed)
handful of frozen peas or corn (optional)
canola or other vegetable oil
salt, pepper

In a fairly large pan, heat about 3 tablespoons of canola oil at about medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring fairly often. Add the rice and garlic and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes, or until the rice starts to get a bit brown. Stir often and try not to let the rice get dark brown or burnt.

While you're browning the rice, you should be heating the vegetable broth and tomato sauce in a separate pot. When it comes to a boil, add the rice, onions & garlic and stir. It will probably keep boiling, so go ahead and cover it right away and lower the heat to simmer. If your stovetop isn't one of those fancy ones that actually spells out the word "simmer" for you, just lower the heat to "1" or "2." And if you don't even have numbers, just lower it about as low as it can go.

Let this doggy sit for about 20 minutes, then check it and fluff with a fork or spoon (preferably wood so you don't scratch your pot). Some tomato sauce will likely have risen to the top; stir it in a bit. When the rice is done, it should be fairly fluffy and soft. It may take up to 30 minutes total depending on how hot your stove is.

If you'd like to add peas or corn or both - which I highly recommend - bring them to a boil first in a small separate pot. Once they've boiled for a minute or two, you can toss them in with the rice and they'll be fine.

Remove the rice from heat and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Fluff it again, add some salt and pepper, and you're good to go.

Notes on ingredients:
Trader Joe's and Whole Foods sell good organic vegetable broths, but Swanson's from Vons/Albertson's will work if you don't want to travel that far. You can also make your own - keep reading Kumar to find out how. Or look it up on some other site, if you trust other cooks. Canola oil is my favorite for this kind of cooking because it's the healthiest vegetable oil, besides maybe olive oil. But olive oil has a more powerful, distinct flavor, in my opinion, and I tend to prefer canola's more neutral flavor for this type of rice.

Any other questions, comments, etc.? Send them to kumar@fresnofamous.com. I would be delighted.

Big love,

Kumar

Kumar is a vegan!