Rice and pigeon peas are the classic Puerto Rican holiday meal. This Rice & Pigeon Peas recipe only needs a few essential since I took many of the staples off to save on calories and fat but without sacrificing too much of the flavor, so you can make Arroz con Gandules for celebrations all year round.
The original recipe of this rice, the one my family use to make this dish, is the one my grandmother teach all of us and it is so yummy good ... that I would eat seconds and thirds without stopping !
Not only is delicious, but sadly is high in calories. So I have 2 options if I want to stay in the clean eating lifestyle, either I would have to have it only on Holidays, just once a year or adapt the recipe so i can have it more often without sacrificing the flavors and memories of the original. So here it is, enjoy it!
Ingredients
1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil6 slices of low sodium smoked turkey bacon or 4 regular smoke thick bacon
½ green bell pepper, chopped
(about ½ cup)½ yellow onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
1 teaspoon of coriander
1 teaspoon paprika or saffron
1 tbsp. Minced Garlic
3 tsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. Oregano
1½ cups Medium or long Grain organic Rice
1 can (15 oz.) organic Green Pigeon Peas
4 oz. Tomato Sauce
Stuffed Spanish olives to taste (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bacon in pieces to pan; cook until brown. Take them out when ready and let them rest over paper napkins to absorb the grease, let them cool. (If you use turkey bacon, heat the olive oil and fry the bacon in it until is crispy and remove, leave the olive oil in the pot to saute the next ingredients) Remove the bacon grease from the pot and add the olive oil, Stir in all the peppers and onions; cook, stirring occasionally, scraping up brown bits from the bottom, until vegetables are soft and translucent, 10 minutes. Add sazón, garlic, cilantro and oregano. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add pigeon peas and bacon to pan. Cook, stirring frequently for about 10 mins, add the rice cook stirring frequently until is coated with the liquid and the veggies for about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, olives and 1½ cups water; using a wooden spoon, stir once and bring rice mixture to a boil. Cook, uncovered until water is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Gently stir rice from bottom up.
3. Lower heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Gently fluff rice with the fork. Cover pan and let stand 5 minutes.
* I serve this on Christmas with a roasted pork tenderloing and salad, you use this rice as a side or you can just eat it as is in a bowl with avocado and lettuces with tomatoes.
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