Catfish Out of Water

I didn't exactly start out making Sweet Potatoes Mexican Rice today. I've been making rice and beans together for the last couple of weeks. The peppers in my garden are ripening, so I need to use them while I still have them! I just started a batch of Slow Cooker No-fry Refried Pinto Beans w/ Carolina Reapers and am looking at what I have left to make rice with. I've been bringing in some of the plants for winter.

Yes, pepper plants are actually perennials. You can winter them over and they will come back in the spring. Usually as a larger plant that produces more fruit, so I do highly recommend wintering over your peppers, if you can. One of my Carolina reaper plants this year is an absolute bush. They can get as big as 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. I have a couple of plants in the same pot, but this entire plant cluster is about 3x3 feet. So, I did lose a branch when it was coming through the doorway.

Unripe Hot Peppers

I wouldn't ordinarily pick Carolina reapers when they're green. The point of the second hottest pepper in the world is the heat. It was actually just surpassed by Pepper X in October 2023 (Guinness World Records). It's also not currently commercially available, which makes Carolina reapers the hottest pepper that the public is going to be able to get our hands on. Peppers are going to be hotter when they're fully ripened, though (with the exception of bell peppers, which have 0 capsaicin and, therefore, will never be spicy on their own, regardless of how long you let them ripen). So, there's really little point to picking them when they're on the greener side.

The point is the heat and they're not as hot as they can get yet! But, I was curious about exactly how much milder they would be while still a little bit green. And this branch broke off going through the doorframe. So, it was use it or lose it. Although, now I can say that it's significantly less spicy. If Carolina reapers are a 5/5, I'd call this a 3/5. I could have easily added in more heat. It did pair really well with the sweet potato and apple, though. Carolina reapers have a bit of a bright and tangy flavor to them that balances really well with a warm sweetness.

Gallery

Variations of Sweet Potatoes Mexican Rice

Mexican rice is a great quick and easy dish to toss together. Mix in some spices, peppers of choice, and maybe a little bit of fruits and vegetables for an added kick. I like to crush in a tomato when I'm not using sweet potatoes and apples to balance out that little bit of sweetness and tanginess. It also adds a textural element that's more reminiscent of restaurant-style Mexican rice.

You can also make this same type of recipe with other grains and legumes. I'm particularly fond of using quinoa and lentils.

Mexican Rice w/ Cayenne Peppers & Bay Leaves

Quinoa w/ Sweet Potatoes, Rice Vinegar, & Tamari

Mexican Rice w/ Flaming Jade & Mariachi Peppers

Mexican Rice w/ Sweet Potatoes & Carolina Reapers

This Mexican Rice consists of Carolina reaper pepper, sweet potatoes, apples, yellow onion, roasted garlic, lime juice, bay leaves, and brown rice.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Latin American, Mexican

Servings 4 cups

Equipment

• Rice Cooker

Ingredients

  

• 1 Carolina reaper pepper minced
• 1 sweet potato diced
• 2 apples diced (I used Blondees)
• 1/4 yellow onion diced
• 6 cloves garlic roasted (or 3 unroasted, minced)
• 1 lime juiced
• 2 bay leaves
• dash cumin
• dash coriander
• dash smoked paprika
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 c. brown rice
• 2 c. water (or vegetable broth)

Instructions

 

• Add all of the ingredients into a rice cooker. I like to start with the larger vegetables and then add the smaller ingredients, followed by the rice and water.

  This cooks the larger vegetables on the bottom, while dispersing the flavor profiles in the middle. Although with some mixing, this really doesn't matter all that much. Everything will eventually cook together!
• Press the cook button on the rice cooker. It should take about 45 minutes to cook.

  Alternatively you can simmer on the stove. Add all of the ingredients to a pot, bring uncovered to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook covered for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet squash and rice are tender. Turn off heat, add lid, and let sit another 5-10 minutes.
• When the rice is fully cooked, let sit for 10 minutes, and then fluff with a wooden spoon and serve.
• Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach Teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom!

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• For tips and tricks on The Fundamentals of Cooking Rice, particularly brown rice, check out my article on the matter. Rice is surprisingly more difficult to cook in a rice cooker than the name would suggest and there are a multitude of simple solutions for common problems, like overcooking and becoming mushy or drying out. There are also some solutions for remedying these issues after the fact, instead of starting over!