Mexican Rice

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Rarely have I seen recipes that pair cabbage and rice,so when I saw this recipe in a vegetarian cookbook I was intrigued.I have had this cookbook with me for quite some years and refer to it from time to time when I am looking for new ideas but never really noticed this particular recipe until now.

I wanted to give this recipe a try and adapted it to suit our palate and to adjust for ingredients I had on hand. This was a very quick and flavorful rice and is probably going to cause me to look for cabbage at my grocery more often than I do now :-)

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make the Mexican Rice

2 onions (1 cut fine and 1 sliced long)

1 cup shredded cabbage

2 small tomatoes (blanched and cut into small pieces)

1 1/4 cup long grain brown rice

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp chilli powder (or according to taste)

handful cilantro for garnish cut fine

salt to taste

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil or any other oil

Blanch the tomatoes. (Blanching is a process where you soak the tomatoes in very hot water ( near boiling) water for a few minutes.When the skin on the tomatoes cracks carefully remove the tomatoes from the hot water using tongs and place in a bowl of cold water.When tomatoes cool remove the skin from the tomatoes and then cut into small pieces)

Wash the long grain brown rice and keep aside.

Heat a large pan add one teaspoon of oil, add the sliced onions(the long sliced onions) to this and saute for a few minutes on medium high heat until the onions are transparent.

Remove the onions from the pan and keep aside.

In the same pan add another teaspoon of oil and add the shredded cabbage and saute until the cabbage is cooked but still a bit crisp (do not make it very very soft) Remove the cabbage from the pan and keep aside.

In the same pan add the rest of the oil and add the fine cut onions and saute until transparent. Add the minced garlic to this and saute for a few seconds.Add chopped blanched tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes are soft.

Add brown rice to this saute for a minute, add water as required ( I used approximately 1 3/4 cup of water ) add salt to taste and close with a lid and cook on medium low until rice is cooked. Check while this is getting done and add water if required.The rice needs to be cooked until each grain is separate and not mushy.

Add soya sauce,chilli powder and mix well.

Add the sauteed onions and cabbage and mix well. Add cilantro for garnish and serve hot.

Serves about 2-3

Use this as a base for any mexican dish like burritos etc.

This is my entry into the Rice mela event being hosted by Srivalli (Thanks for letting me know about this Divya)