Jailhouse Rice #recipe @vmburns

 VMBURNS: Sometimes, I get in a rut and find myself eating the same things over and over. One of those repeat items includes potatoes. I like potatoes, but I don't love them. Still, I find myself reverting to them as a side dish staple. WHY?  No idea. However, I decided to break the habit. Instead of potatoes, a quick look in my pantry showed that I had another staple, rice. Rice isn't something I prepared often. As a kid, I was stuck between two opposing forces. My mom hated rice. WHY? No idea. It's such a bland food, that it's hard to imagine anyone feeling so strongly, but she did. So, she NEVER made rice. My dad, however, loved rice. In fact, he loved rice for breakfast (don't judge). Every Sunday, my dad cooked breakfast, which included biscuits, bacon (or sausage), scrambled eggs, and rice with sugar and butter. So, once per week, 52 weeks per year, for 18 years, I ate rice for breakfast. Needless to say I was really tired of rice. Fast forward forty years, and I think I'm ready to try more rice dishes. :-)  But I wanted something interesting. That's when I discovered several recipes for Jailhouse Rice. I have no idea where the title came from, but I liked that the rice was seasoned. There were variations with sausage and/or ground beef. Since, this was going to be a side dish and not the main attraction, I kept it simple, and skipped the meat. 

I eliminated the meat, but you can turn this into a main dish by adding a pound of ground beef, and 1 pound of sausage. You all probably know by now that while I like garlic, it doesn't like me. So, feel free to double the garlic. I also don't like tomatoes, so I included Rotel instead of regular diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Want more flavor? Instead of 4 cups of water, 2 cups beef broth will give you plenty of flavor. You can also add cheddar cheese and bake like a casserole. 

JAILHOUSE RICE

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 cup corn, frozen or canned
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the diced onion and minced garlic, and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper, cooking for another minute until fragrant.
   
   
   
5. Add the rinsed rice to the saucepan, stirring to coat it with the spices and onion mixture.
   
   
   
6. Pour in the water and bring to a boil.
   
   
   
7. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
   
   
   
8. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, then fluff the rice with a fork.
9. Stir in the black beans, diced tomatoes, and corn until well combined.
   
   
   
10. Adjust seasoning as desired and garnish with fresh cilantro before serving.

READERS: What's your favorite side dish? Let me know in the comments below. 

MURDER FROM A TO Z

Nana Jo has volunteered her lawyer granddaughter, Jenna, to teach estate planning to retirees—with Sam providing her bookshop as the venue. But during the seminar, entitled Getting Your Ducks in Order, it quickly becomes clear someone’s up to Fowl Play. When elderly Alva Tarkington, accompanied by her niece, sits down for a consultation, Sam realizes the woman’s frequent blinking is actually Morse Code—S.O.S. The sisters get her alone, and Alva tells them she believes her life is in danger and must change her will . . .

Unfortunately, Alva is found dead the next day—seemingly from natural causes. But Nana Jo and the sisters suspect otherwise. In between penning her latest historical mystery, set in 1939 as England declares war on Germany and Lady Elizabeth Marsh pursues stolen paintings and a traitor, Sam teams up with the senior sleuths of Shady Acres to search for motives—beginning with Alva’s family. They soon learn not everyone is who they say they are, and someone is more than qualified to teach a class on cold-blooded murder . . .

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