Mexican Style Yellow Rice

My dad is a great cook. This is totally a recipe inspired by him. I remember the first time I remember cutting all the ingredients for this recipe, how meticulously I cut the jalapeños, prepared the tomatoes and onions. How it all came together to make this tasty rice.

Sofrito is not a step to be missed. It makes this recipe. Make sure you have plenty of lime, too, or you won’t quite get the twang it needs. Trust me, you’ll make this a few times a month or once a week, if you love Mexican night as much as I do! And the best part? Once it boils, you pop it in the oven and forget about it until it’s done.

  

Mexican Style Yellow Rice

Kitchen tools: Oven, blender, aluminum foil

Ingredients

• 2 cups of rice, rinsed until water runs clear
• 1.75 cups of water or broth (+ or – depending on how much sofrito you have)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium sized onion, quartered
• 2 large tomatoes, rough chopped
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/8 cup olives, sliced
• 2, juice of limes + lime juice for garnish
• 1-2 packets of Goya Sazon seasoning
• salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oven to 350° F
2. In a blender/food processor, blend onion and tomatoes to create sofrito. You will have approximately 1-2 cups. Set aside.
3. In an oven safe pot, on medium heat, add oil, garlic and jalapeños and mix until fragrant, careful not to burn garlic.
4. Add rice to garlic mixture and mix for 2 minutes, until translucent and slightly golden. Add lime juice and mix. Add Goya Sazon seasoning and tomato paste and mix well.
5. Measure sofrito in 1 cup measuring cup and add to rice and mix to incorporate. If you have 1 or two cups of sofrito, add the remaining amount of liquid in water or broth to have 3.75 cups of liquid in the rice, total.
6. Taste water to make sure it is salty enough. Add additional salt if needed. Add olives.
7. Mix rice well and bring to a boil.
8. Turn off stove. Cover rice with aluminum foil and top with oven safe lid. Place rice in oven for 45 minutes, without taking cover off or opening oven.
9. Remove rice from oven, remove cover and fluff rice with fork. Garnish with lime juice and cilantro, mix well.
10. Serve!