Mexican Rice Salad

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves (diced or pressed)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 5 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chicken broth, powder
• 4 limes, juiced
• 3 teaspoons chili powder (do it to taste)
• black beans (bush's preferred)
• salsa (pace medium)
• sliced olive
• chopped avocado
• low-fat plain yogurt
• shredded cheddar cheese
• red leaf lettuce (romaine works too)
• crushed tortilla chips (hint of lime preferred)

Recipe

• 1 sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until onions become tender. add rice, sautee until rice becomes opaque but not browned.
• 2 add water, tomato sauce, chicken broth, lime juice, and chili powder. (i like mine with more chili flavor, so i probably get closer to a tbsp, but if you add it and smell the rice mix i think you can tell about where it's at. i also add garlic powder if the garlic isn't strong enough).
• 3 bring to boil. reduce heat, cover and simmer on low for 50 minutes (my stove is a scale of 1-10 for heat, i do a 3).
• 4 do not remove the cover until time is up or you'll ruin the steam build up and it will take longer to cook. depending on weather and altitude sometimes 50 minutes is perfect, sometimes it takes longer. if rice hasn't absorbed liquid, just add 5 minutes and check, repeat until absorbed.
• 5 once the rice is finished, add the rest of the ingredients. this is my preferred order:.
• 6 rice, black beans, salsa, olives, avocados, yogurt, cheese, lettuce, crushed chips.
• 7 *notes: you can use whatever tortilla chips you want, hint of lime gives it an extra kick. also, if you use rice instead, amount of water is 3 cups and cooking time is about 20 min--it's just that brown rice tastes better and is healthier. i'd do the other prep work (cutting avocados, preparing lettuce) while the rice is cooking. toppings are to taste, but for me they add an additional 450 calories/serving, so probably about 700-800 calories/serving.