mexican rice with cilantro sauce

For our belated cinco de mayo celebration, I decided to try this recipe for mexican spice rubbed ribeyes I set aside from the April issue of Food & Wine. To go with it, I decided to make a simple mexican rice. Or, more accurately, I *had* planned to keep it simple, until I saw this recipe on Epicurious. The cilantro sauce that you stir into the rice at the end was so amazing, and only required a tiny bit more effort. (I'll cover the rib eyes in the next post.)

Grocery list: 1 white onion, garlic, 1 serrano pepper, rice, chicken broth, cilantro, white wine vinegar, cumin, 1 tomato.



In a large dutch oven, heat a couple of T of olive oil, then saute the chopped onion and 4 minced cloves of garlic, along with 1 T of the minced serrano (set aside another 1 tsp of the serrano for the cilantro dressing).



When the onion is translucent (8-9 minutes), add the rice. The recipe called for 2 cups of white rice, which would require 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth. I wanted to make it with brown rice, so I followed the ratio on the package instead -- 1 1/2 cups of rice for 3 cups of broth. Anyway, saute the rice and onions for another 2 minutes, then add the broth.



Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is done.



I modified the original recipe for the cilantro dressing in order to bring down the overall amount of oil and reduce the calories. In a food processor, pulse 1 cup of cilantro leaves with 1 tsp serrano, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/3 cup white wine vinegar, and 1/2 cup olive oil; blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.



When the rice is done, remove from the heat and uncover. In another minor departure from the recipe, I stirred in 1 chopped tomato, which added color and juicy flavor that went well with the spicy steaks. Let it stand for a while to cool, then stir in the cilantro dressing just before serving.