Rice to Die For

On Saturday I needed a quick meal to take to Randy at work, and I didn't have a lot in the kitchen. Compounding matters, I didn't have a lot of energy to make anything too fancy or time consuming. So after about fifteen minutes of sitting on the couch like a beached whale, staring at the kitchen, I finally came up with something, and it turned out pretty delicious. (I base my deliciousness-factors based on how soon after I make something Randy asks for it again.)

I ended up taking a nine by nine glass pan and layering the bottom with refried beans, then adding a small layer of cheese (still trying to convert Randy to the soy cheese) and some salsa, then topping it off with some rice that I kind of winged--but turned out to be a keeper. We ended up eating half of the pan just with chips that night, and then I made the rest of the pan up into burritos the next day. So here's how I did the rice:

I took a cup of white rice, and placed it in a medium kettle with plenty of water and one vegan bouillon cube (it is like fake chicken bouillon, so if you aren't crazy like me I'd just use chicken). Then opened up a small can of chipotle peppers in adobo, and chopped up about three, and threw those in the pot as well. You want to make sure you get a little of the adobo in there, because it adds this great flavor. Then I just added a dash of salt and some fresh ground pepper, and let the rice boil down until the water had evaporated and the rice was tender--about twenty minutes. And voila! Smoky, yummy rice that works great as either a side dish or an ingredient in burritos etc. The next time I do it, I want to chop up some cilantro and green onion, a few roma tomatoes and squeeze lime over the top, mixed with a little salt and pepper and add that as a garnish on the rice. But in a pinch, the quick way like I did it still turns out surprisingly good!