Arroz con Gandules
2 cups water
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet (1.41 ounces) Sazon (found at any store)
3 tablespoons sofrito (homemade is best, but you can buy it frozen)
seedless green spanish olives, to taste
2 cups white rice
1 can (14 ounces) gandules (pigeon peas), drained and rinsed
1. Put the water in your rice pot, add the oil, salt, sazon, sofrito, and olives. Start to heat up the water, and stir the ingredients. Taste. It should not be too salty.
2. Add the rice. The water should cover the rice by maybe an inch. The rice should not be above the water. Stir the rice. Stove should be on high and pot uncovered. Let the water evaporate. You should not see any water, but rice shouldn't be dry. This should take about ten minutes.
3. Once this happens, stir the rice. Make sure to stir it really well getting the bottom and sides. At this time, cover the rice and lower the heat. Let the rice cook for about 25-30 minutes.
4. Don't stir the rice after you cover it, and try not to keep opening the pot. You want the steam to stay inside. Once the rice is cooked (rice should be soft and not sticky), stir and enjoy.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This recipe has lost my ratings and comments at least twice and I'm sure it's done the same for others - very strange. Anyway, I've made this many times over the last few years with variations depending on what's in the cupboard and how much I felt like cooking. One thing that should be added no matter what is one or two bay leaves while the rice cooks. I also use anywhere from one to two tsp of Adobo if you can find it in the Spanish food aisle and a tablespoon of garlic. Sometimes I add a small can of tomato sauce or just a few tbsp of tomato paste - this requires a little more cooking and sitting time. If you don't have gandules (pigeon peas), you can use red beans, kidney beans, or pink beans. I love this dish, you don't have to have anything else but maybe some vegan cuban bread and butter toasted.