Spanish Rice (I'm No Pioneer Woman)

My dad is known for his spanish rice.  He makes it ALL the time, and I've grown up eating it for as long as I can remember.  I can't believe I used to actually hate his spanish rice, but that's a thing of the past.  In fact, I would eat so much of it whenever I'd go home to visit, that I finally decided I needed to learn his "recipe."

Thing is, there's not a written recipe. 

So about this time last year, when I was visiting my parents, I had him show me how to make it.  I didn't write it down, so this is probably not exactly the way he does it, so this is my version of my dad's spanish rice.

And as the title of this thread says, I'm no Pioneer Woman, but I figured her style of explaining a recipe through photography would work well for this.  So here goes...

Here's what you need.  We'll talk about amounts as we go...

1 bunch of green onions
1 green bell pepper
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
white rice
brown rice
soy sauce (optional)
chicken broth
vegetable oil
olive oil
salt
cayenne pepper (optional)

Before you even turn on your burner, go ahead and prepare everything, so it's ready to throw in the skillet.  The rice can burn really easily, so this way, you don't have to worry about not being able to watch it as you chop something, or measure something.

So chop your green onion and bell pepper, but keep them separated, because you'll add them at different times...

Okay, turn on the burner.  I usually keep mine on about 6 or 7 (gas stove), but of course, do whatever works with your stove.  You want it a little higher than medium heat.

Pour enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of your pan...

After the oil gets hot, add the white rice.  I use about 1 cup.

Try to coat it evenly around the surface of the pan. 

You want the white rice to get browned.  Get it?  It should look something like this...

After it's been browned, add the brown rice...I use about 3/4 cup.

Stir the brown rice to incorporate it with the browned white rice and the oil. 

At different points throughout, you may need to add a little bit more oil, just to prevent burning.  I usually add olive oil when I do this.  This would be one of those times....

Add the green onions...

Stir, and then let the onions cook for just a little bit...maybe a minute..

During that minute, you might want to add some more olive oil.  Basically, if the pan starts looking too dry, I add just a little oil...

Add the green peppers...

Stir...

My dad likes to add a little soy sauce.  I'm out of soy sauce, so this is where I add in some salt (a little more salt than usual, since I'm not doing the soy sauce)...

To your own taste, and only if you want to, sprinkle a little cayenne pepper.

Do you have your can of tomatoes open yet?  If not, hurry up!  Then you can add them...

Stir...

This is what it should look like so far...

Now it's time to add the chicken broth/water.  How much you add really depends on how much rice you have.  I use about 3 cups.  If you don't have chicken broth, water is fine.  The chicken broth just gives it a bit more flavor...

You want to add enough so that your rice mixture is completely covered, and then some...Kind of like this.

Cover, and turn the heat down a little...

And let it cook for...a while.  I don't know...30 minutes?  I never time my rice.  You want all the liquid to cook out of it, without it burning.  If you're unsure, you can always do the fork check. 

When it's done, it should look like this...

And then fluff it with a fork so it looks like this!

And please, try to wait a little before tasting it, because that stuff is HOT! 

I hope I haven't totally changed the way my dad cooks his rice.  But for what it's worth, he has tasted it, and given it his seal of approval.  It's not exactly like his, but it's pretty darn good.

Enjoy!