hands-off tomato rice & beans

Adapted from a Peachy Plate’s “How to Make Easy Rice Cooker Spanish Rice”

Ready in 20 minutes

Serves 3-5 people

Note: This recipe can definitely be made on the stovetop, but a rice cooker (or pressure cooker with rice setting) makes things even easier (especially for anyone who tends to get distracted while cooking). Though the original recipe is called “Spanish rice,” I don’t know that I can really make that claim about this adaptation, so I’ll opt to describe it as tomato rice until I learn otherwise 🙂

Ingredients

• 1/4-1/2 white or red onion
• 3 medium cloves garlic
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1 cup chicken broth/stock
• 1 cup canned crushed or diced tomato, with juice/sauce
• 1 CAN black beans
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• Salt
• Optional toppings: chopped cilantro, lime wedges or lime juice, diced onion, diced avocado, tortilla chips, hot sauce, etc

Directions

Click on each bullet point to expand more detailed instructions.

Rinse and drain rice, then add to rice cooker. Dice onion. Add 1/4 cup of onion to rice cooker, saving remainder for garnish if desired. Mince garlic and add to rice cooker.

1. Use a fine-mesh sieve or strainer to thoroughly rinse and swirl the rice several times until water runs clear. Make sure to drain rice thoroughly, then add to bowl of the rice cooker.
2. Dice the onion. Add ¼ cup diced onion to the bowl of the rice cooker. If desired, place the remaining diced onion in a small bowl to use for garnish.
3. Lightly smash the garlic with the flat blade of a knife, then peel off the papers. Mince garlic and add to rice cooker.

Drain black beans and rinse. Add beans, chicken broth, tomato, butter, and seasoning to rice cooker. Stir to combine.

1. Open can of black beans and drain in fine-mesh sieve. Rinse beans of their goop, then drain thoroughly and add to rice cooker.
2. Add chicken broth, tomato plus juice/sauce, butter, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and salt to rice cooker.
3. Stir ingredients in rice cooker bowl to combine, then place lid over rice cooker.

Turn on rice cooker. Prep garnishes. When cycle ends, fluff, garnish, and serve!

1. Turn on rice cooker. While rice cooks, prep any desired garnishes: chop cilantro, slice lime wedges, shred cheese, get hot sauce out of the fridge, dice avocado, etc.
2. When cooking cycle is complete, remove the lid and safely stir with a paddle or fork to fluff.
3. Add desired garnishes and serve!

How To’s

1. How to make this faster:
   • Use equivalent amount of frozen chopped onion and/or equivalent serving of jarred minced garlic in place of the aromatics
   • Use garlic press instead of mincing garlic
   • Garnish substitutes: bottled lime juice instead of lime wedges, pre-shredded cheese, pre-made guacamole instead of diced avocado
2. How to make this clean up easier:
   • Re-use fine mesh sieve for draining rice and beans
   • If you’re a confident enough cook, adjust seasoning combination to anything that sounds good and eyeball the amounts

love you stay fed!