It’s funny how our early family experiences with food can affect us our whole lives. The food traditions we grow up with seem normal, and we might be many years into our adulthood before we learn that other people do things differently.
Non-loaded Spanish rice, on the side with a chili relleno. (John Tannenberg, Creative Commons License)
Despite being a pretty inventive cook –I hardly ever make anything exactly the same way twice– it was ages before I even considered deviating from my mother’s way of making macaroni salad. To me, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, real mayo, and generous salt and pepper were the only way to make it. It’s still one of my favorite comfort foods, ice cold in a huge bowl, when I go to Mom’s house.
My sister took the Mom’s-way-is-the-only-way thing to an extreme when she decided to make cheesecake after moving out on her own. My mother made a cherry cheesecake pretty regularly, but my sister despised the cherries. She always gouged them out of the top and cast them aside.
When Heather bought the cherry pie filling to put on her own cheesecake, I questioned her motivation. “I thought you hated the cherries,” I said, puzzled. “I do,” she answered. “But I like picking them off.”
Old habits don’t just die hard. Sometimes they stubbornly refuse to die at all.
Cheesecake + cherries minus cherries = my sister's cherry cheesecake recipe. (Jetta Girl/Creative Commons)
Which brings me to Spanish rice. At my house growing up (where it usually came in a box, but that’s beside the point), it was a side dish. A simple, ordinary side dish that, in our mainstream American food household smacked slightly of the exotic. Like our ubiquitous cheese-sauced broccoli, canned peas, or instant mashed potatoes, it was distinctly a second-string accompaniment.
That’s why I was so surprised when I went looking for ideas for rice recipes and found so many food bloggers and commenters talking about Spanish rice being one of their favorite main dishes. Not only that, but in their families, they piled it high with toppings: sour cream, cheese, olives, chopped onions, chives. I was simply shocked, because it was completely unlike my growing-up experiences with Spanish rice.
I knew I had to try it. Not only did I want to experiment with moving my Spanish rice recipe from the skillet to the slow cooker, but it gave me an excuse to pile cheese on top of something.
This Spanish rice recipe calls for your favorite salsa, and that’s part of the beauty of it. That one, simple choice means you can customize it to your taste. Like spicy? Choose a spicy salsa. Tissue paper tongue? Go with mild. I like mine hot, but also super-chunky and tomato-ey. If you choose one that’s particularly chunky, you can get away with skipping the veggies in a pinch.
Adding toppings makes Spanish rice a hearty main dish. Who knew? Not the Robinson family.
Slow Cooker Loaded Spanish Rice Recipe
2 cups uncooked converted rice
2 cups water
2 cups your favorite salsa
1 medium pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 12 oz. bag sausage-style crumbles, thawed
Toppings of your choice: shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped raw onions, fresh cilantro, black olives, etc.
Directions: Spray crock of your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Combine all ingredients (except toppings) and stir. Cook covered on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. Add toppings if desired to make a main dish, or serve on the side with a Tex-Mex dinner.
Tips: Be sure you use a converted rice (like Uncle Ben’s), otherwise your cooking time will almost double. If you plan on being out for a very long time, you can get away with plain white rice.
If you haven’t pre-thawed your crumbles, pack them into the slow cooker first and increase your cooking time by about 15 minutes. I usually put them straight into the fridge instead of the freezer and use them within a day.
Main dish Spanish rice may be old hat to your family, but I’m a new convert, and I’m singing its praises. No more Spanish rice on the side. This one belongs in your biggest bowl, enjoying its promotion.
