One of my favorite comfort foods is Spanish Rice. My mom made it when I was a child and it
always reminds me of home. It is
typically made with onion, garlic, green pepper and canned tomatoes which
simmer together with uncooked rice and water until a flavorful blend
emerges. My mom used to make it in the
oven with pork chops. I have also made
it in a large pan over low heat on the stovetop. This week, I was hungry for Spanish Rice and
thought I would experiment with the recipe in my slow cooker. I’m a big fan of slow cooking since it tends
to save preparation time as well as clean up time and usually yields very tasty
results. I emphasize “usually”…
I put the ingredients in the slow cooker on low before going
to bed, expecting to wake to delicious Spanish Rice. I was even hoping to have some for breakfast. Unfortunately, what I found was a mushy mass
that was far from appealing. It was
completely overcooked. The taste was familiar
but the texture was intolerable. I
briefly considered throwing the whole pot out but I just can’t bear to waste
food. I decided there had to be a way to
save the meal.
The first variation was very simple. I used a portion of the mush to thicken a
tomato based soup. I added a can of
tomato soup and water to the mush and blended them until smooth. I added some chopped chicken, frozen peas and
diced zucchini for a flavorful and thick soup that the family loved. I didn’t even need to add any spices or
additional salt since the rice was already flavored appropriately. No one even suspected that the soup was
thickened with the Spanish Rice glop.
Next, I’m going to mix the rice with some ground turkey for
meatloaf, meatballs or stuffed cabbage.
I will add some egg and breadcrumbs to thicken and see how that turns
out.
I encourage you to think outside the box when a meal doesn’t
turn out as you had planned. It happens
to all of us. Sometimes you will
surprise yourself at your failures turned successes and won’t have to feel bad
about wasting food.
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