Uncle Roger's not-just-Spanish Rice

Introduction

As an incredibly lazy bachelor, something that's worth its weight in gold is a quick and easy recipe for a cheap and nutritious meal. Minimal clean-up is important too. One of my inventions is just such a dish. It's loosely based on the concept of Spanish rice, a concept probably as authentically Spanish as Chop Suey is Chinese.

Nonetheless, it is actually pretty tasty, and requires (at most) two pots and a knife. It can be made simply, with only a few ingredients, or can be spiced up for a hot date. It can even be made as a vegetarian or vegan dish.


Ingredients

Everything you need is easily found at your local market.
Figure 1. The Ingredients.
The ingredients are simple and readily available:

The rice can be any type you like; I use plain white rice. I prefer fresh chicken, but if you want to avoid washing a second pan, knife, and cutting board, you can use the canned chicken (it's much like canned tuna, and is probably in the same aisle.) Or, you can skip the chicken altogether and go vegetarian. (I use chicken because I am more often than not cooking for at least one semi-veg.)

The Tomato Vegetable Soup is very important -- It is truly the crux of the dish. It should be good quality, and hopefully contain all kinds of interesting things like zucchini, pasta, so on. I usually use Progresso Tomato Vegetable Italiano, but have found that Campbell's Tomato Garden works fine as well. Note that you can always add things like canned green beans, corn (Not creamed corn!) and so on. Any tomato-based salsa will do, and can be any level of spiciness, but the chunkier the better.

The last four items are found in the spices aisle of virtually any grocery. If you can't find white pepper, black pepper will do, but I prefer the slightly unusual taste of white pepper. All of these can be omitted, especially if fresh chicken is not being used.


Preparation

Now that's a dish fit for the lord of the hacienda!
Figure 2. Mmm-mmm Good!
  1. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Don't let it boil too long or the water will all boil away and you'll have very crunchy rice.

  2. Add the rice to the water, stir, and let it return to a boil. Stir the rice again, lower the heat and cover tightly. Let the rice cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the rice is tender.

  3. Dice the chicken (cut into cubes about the size of a large die) and place in a saucepan over medium heat. Add paprika, pepper, onions, and parsley to taste. Stir frequently until cooked through.

  4. When the rice is cooked, add the soup, salsa, and chicken. Mix well. Allow time for the soup and salsa to heat.

  5. Serve and enjoy!


This will serve four hearty lumberjacks or eight super-models. It goes well with broccoli or brussel sprouts. To impress her parents, serve in a ceramic dish, preferably reddish-brown or tan, and lay a few stalks of green onions across the top. Garnish with tortilla chips and additional salsa if desired.

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