Since Cinco de Mayo in a month I wanted to do a 3 part series and share some recipes for this celebration. My friend Maggie shared her delicious Mexican rice recipe with me. This rice is packed with flavor and is 100% better than what you will find at the Taco Shops or Mexican Restaurants in San Diego.

Of course this would not be an Ivy’s Kitchen recipe without my spin on it so I added a few ingredients that you may omit: jalapeno, oregano, and cumin.

We all have our methods of cooking rice, and I am sure her rice came out perfect, however when I made it, mine came out to be a little bit on the moist side so if you want a little bit of tender rice, add less water. The usual count is 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. Since we already added tomato sauce, I reduced the amount of water I added when I made this the second time.

Please stay tuned for the next 2 videos/recipes to complete my Cinco de Mayo series.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of long grain rice
• 3 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 small can of tomato sauce (usually 8 oz)
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/4 cup of diced onions
• 1/2 a small jalapeno diced (de-seeded)
• *Her original recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of water, which I found the rice to have a lot of moisture. I used 2 cups the second time and found it a little bit moist. I suggest trying this recipe out a few times and play with measurements between 2 cups – 1 3/4  cups of water.
• 2 tsp. of knorr chicken bouillon powder
• 1/4 tsp of cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp of oregano

Directions:

1. Heat up oil until very hot. Turn off heat and wait for oil to cool down.
2. Pour the rice in the pot and toast until a lightly golden brown but do not burn the rice. You will hear the rice “pop” as it toasts.
3. Turn heat back on to medium and add onions, garlic, and jalapeno. Saute until onions have softened and garlic is lightly golden brown (do not burn the garlic).
4. Add the tomato sauce and mix in with the rice.
5. Add water and season with chicken bouillon powder, oregano, and cumin. Mix unit chicken bouillon powder dissolves.
6. Bring to boil, cover, and lower heat and simmer.  Keep lid close the whole time.
7. Cook rice until tender and liquid is absorb. Rice should be done cooking between 25-35 minutes.
8. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.