Fall is in the air and you know what that means: it's bean season. Not really, bean harvesting season is in midsummer to early autumn. And, while there are plenty of people who grow or may otherwise have access to fresh beans? Most of us in the United States are getting dried beans. Which really makes any season bean season. What it really is is pepper and tomato season. I grow a lot of peppers and tomatoes in my garden every year and, when they're ripening, I tend to make a lot of salsa, enchilada sauce, and you guessed it: beans. Which is how we stumbled into Mexican Rice territory. So, bear with me.
You can mix and match your own peppers. Flaming jade and mariachi peppers aren't necessarily going to be available at most grocery stores. They're about 500-3,000 Scovilles, which makes them roughly in between the heat level of Anaheims and jalapeño peppers. Making them fairly mild. Although you can always mix and match your own favorite peppers and heat level of choice.
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Variations of Mexican Rice
You can absolutely make this recipe with brown rice. I almost always opt for brown rice over white rice. I find it more flavorful and easier to cook with. That might sound counter-intuitive because ordinarily you're going to have white rice in the vast majority of American restaurants. Brown rice doesn't absorb water as quickly, so it's going to be more forgiving during the cooking process and less likely to overcook or become mushy and waterlogged. Although you can mix and match your own favorite rice. I have an entire article on What’s the Difference Between Types of Rice? and The Fundamentals of Cooking Rice.
This Mexican Rice consists of flaming jade and mariachi peppers, tomato, yellow onion, garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, and long grain white rice with a dash of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
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!
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