Dumb Easy Dinner: Mexican Rice Skillet

Summer is nearly upon us. With it comes the pitter patter of little feet. Or rather the stomp stomp stomp of bigger feet, the sometimes pajama days, the summer reading program, the bike rides, the park visits, the pool visits. And then we must not forget the messes, the muddy shoes, the bitter arguments over which cartoon character you are and why your sister is not allowed to be the cartoon character she wants to be. Oh, yes, and the plaintive cries of "I'm hungry."

Sometimes in summer it's actually easier for me to cook. Things are a little more laid back. We have fewer places we have to be. But sometimes I just want to lounge around like a big pasty-skinned lizard and not spend all afternoon in the kitchen. And other times we get home famished and ready to eat one another. On those days, it's good to have a few dumb easy dinners in the back pocket, preferably ones that won't use a booty load of dishes or heat up the oven for hours. Here you go.

The fantastic, glorious thing about Mexican Rice Skillets is that you just need rice, broth, and tomatoes. After that you can kind of do what you want--add meat or beans or enchilada sauce or heat or cheese. Whatever. It's really a dump and eat kind of meal that can be adapted to whatever on earth happens to be in your fridge. If you already have rice leftover, you can even use that, though it's super flavorful to make the rice with all the seasonings simmering into it.

Mexican Rice Skillet
serves 6
adapted from Butter Yum
prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Cost: $7.50 ( $1.25/per serving)
bacon: .50, onion: .15, pepper: .75, beef: 3.00, rice: .15, canned tomatoes: .65, beef stock (from bullion cube): .15, other stuff: .15

a few strips bacon (optional)
1 bell pepper, chopped; I used red (also kind of optional, but veggies for heaven's sake)
1 medium onion, chopped (or finely grated if you have onion-texture haters among you)
1 clove garlic
1 pound ground beef (or cut this to 1/2 pound or use beans instead; seriously, this is that kind of whatever recipe)
1 C uncooked white rice
6 tomatoes, chopped (or a can of diced tomatoes with juices)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/4 C beef stock (if you used the can of tomatoes, reduce this to 1 Cup)
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp black pepper.

Saute bacon if using. Add ground beef and cook (the original recipe just had the beef going raw into the rice and cooking, but I was afraid, so I cooked it first; you could potentially skip this step and you should know the beef doesn't have to be completely cooked through as it will cook longer).Add onions and peppers. Continue to saute until vegetables start to soften.  Add garlic and cook one more minute.

Add rice and cook for a minute. Then add the remaining ingredients.

Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low or medium low. Cook until all the juices are absorbed and the rice is tender. If you taste it and the rice is still a little too tough, add a bit more water (maybe 1/4 C) and cook until it's absorbed.

That's it, and there's dinner. We served it with some grated cheese and sour cream. Also, avocado would have been amazing.

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Guacamole Rice

I made this and I thought it would be a kind of good side dish that would add some vegetables to my rice. Yay. What it turned out to be was a super amazing bowl of deliciousness. I made it with some meat to "balance" the meal for the minions. Whatever. This was all I wanted. And it's pretty. And easy. It won't heat your kitchen into summertime purgatory. And lately I've been finding avocados for really cheap. 

You can make this as a side dish or a light summer dinner/lunch. You can make from scratch or cheat and use a bit of Rotel. It could be a perfect way to use leftover rice. Also, it can be eaten warm or at room temperature. What, on earth, is not to love? Unless of course you hate avocados, in which case you have issues and I can't help you.

I'll include directions and cheats below.

Guacamole Rice
adapted from Foxes Love Melons
Serves: 6
Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes for the rice
Cost: $2.45
rice: .65, avocado: .65 (that's how much I paid for the last one I bought, but the price varies on these a lot), lime juice: .15, Rotel: 1.00 OR tomato: .40, jalepeno: .40, other stuff: ..40 (guessing a bit here; I haven't bought some of these items for a while because I get them from my garden and freeze them--they should be cheap this summer)

Cheat: If you'd like to cheat a good cheat, use the first four ingredients here and follow directions below. Then drain a can of Rotel (save that juice for something amazing) and add it plus a good pinch of cumin to the avocado/rice mixture. It's pretty awesome.

1 ripe avocado, diced
juice of 1 1/2 limes (or about 2-3 Tbsp juice)
1/4 tsp salt
3 C cooked rice (or any other grain that floats your boat--quinoa, barley, whatever)
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1 Roma tomato, diced
1/2 Jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced (add some seeds if you like more heat)
1/4 C chopped cilantro (optional)
1/4 C diced red onion (optional and we skipped it)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cumin

First cook your rice if you don't have any leftover.

While it cooks, take the avocado, lime juice, and salt and mash that all together.

When rice is ready, toss it with the mashed avocado mixture and the other ingredients.

Serve warm or cool.

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Rice Pudding (Cozy Shack Style)

Last night I should have been writing this blog post, but for whatever reasons, I had to have rice pudding. Had to. If you haven't ever had really good rice pudding, that probably sounds weird, but good rice pudding is just as crave-able as any other creamy sweet dessert.  The only problem with my craving was that when I came to my blog to look up my favorite recipe, it wasn't there--oh, the horror. Apparently, I've never posted it. Time to right that wrong.

I grew up eating rice pudding on occasion, but it was of the leftover rice variety. My mom would take some leftover rice, add an egg, some milk, sugar, and cinnamon and it would be rice pudding. I still consider this a perfectly fabulous way to use up leftover rice and I have craved this concoction after each and every one of my babies has been born.

However, this recipe is rice pudding on a whole different level than that. It is a rice pudding that is actually, well, a pudding. I won't call it a knock off recipe for Cozy Shack rice pudding exactly (because of course it's better and full of lovely natural ingredients), but it definitely has a flavor and texture that reminds you of Cozy Shack rice pudding (which I also kind of love, so there you go). This is creamy and rich--a lovely backdrop for fruit if you want to pretend it's breakfast, not dessert.

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. She uses cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon rinds, and gives the rice a pre-soak. You can totally do that and will be rewarded with humming undertones of those flavors. But if you'd like to have your rice pudding before midnight, follow me. And don't worry--this pudding can totally hold its own without the added spices or the pre-soak.

Rice Pudding (Cozy Shack Style)
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
makes 6-10 servings
Cook time: 1 hour
Cost: $1.90
rice: .20, egg: .10, milk: .40, sweetened condensed milk: 1.00, vanilla: .20

Note: This can be eaten warm or cold. I like it best cold. Be warned that it thickens significantly as it cools so you'll want it a runnier than you think it should be. Otherwise, you'll have a lump of pudding when it's cool. I cooked mine a bit too long this time--it's still amazing, mind you, but it is thicker today that I prefer it.

Another note: You can use the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon if you wish. Naturally this will raise your cost significantly. Or you can use several dashes of cinnamon and a pinch of clove if you wish. Or you can skip it entirely and just go for a creamy vanilla flavor.

Another note: This is a great recipe for a vanilla bean if that's your thing. If you'd like to use a vanilla bean, add it when you add the milk. You'll slice it open, let it cook, then scrape out those seeds and let it cook more. If you don't have a vanilla bean or are too cheap to use them, then a good Tablespoon of vanilla is all you need.

And another note: I've only made this with white rice. However, I really want to give it a go with brown. I think it would work out just fine and taste a bit nuttier and more complex. Let me know if you try it.

One final note: This calls for only 1 cup of rice. It seems much too little for all the liquid we're going to add, but it's correct--just watch, you'll see.

1 C rice (long-grain white or arborio)
2 cinnamon sticks (or a dash of cinnamon)
2 strips lemon rind (can be skipped)
3 cloves (or a dash of cloves)
4 C water
1 egg
3 C milk (I used whole, but 2% would also work; I would not recommend skim, but if the low-fat sirens have you trapped in their clutches, go ahead and give it a try)
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 vanilla bean OR 1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine rice and water in large pot. Add cinnamon, cloves, and lemon rind if using. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let it simmer UNCOVERED.

While it's simmering, whisk your egg in a separate bowl and then add you milk. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Now back to the pot of rice. When most of the water is out and it looks only a little better than Oliver Twist's gruel (this will take 10-15 minutes), you're ready to make some pudding. Add your egg/milk concoction--stirring as you pour it into the hot mushy rice. Then add the sweetened condensed milk.

Bring to a boil again and lower the heat again, letting it simmer UNCOVERED for another 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally. As you stir, be sure to stir the bottom of the pot, so nothing starts to stick to it and burn. Now if you're in a hurry because your rice pudding cravings don't wait, you can leave this to cook at a higher heat, but you will have to pay for this by stirring it constantly so it doesn't burn. Don't leave and read a book; your rice pudding craving will never forgive you. 

It's going to simmer and simmer and simmer (with you stirring occasionally). As it simmers it will thicken. You need to take it off the heat before all the liquid is simmered off. In fact, you need to take it off the heat when it still seems a little runny--one stage before how runny you would actually like it to be. This pudding thickens significantly as it cools so unless you want to mold this like jello, you've got to take it off the heat while it's still a bit runny--not a sloggy, puddle-like mess mind you, but a little runnier than you want your cooled product to be. Add the vanilla. Stir. And cool. This is also pretty darn good warm, though I confess I love it best cold.

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