I serve this Hawaii-Style Spanish Rice when my family is tired of spaghetti but I want to get all of the goodness of cooked tomatoes in them. This recipe is meaty and hearty with a mild tomato flavor and just enough cheese to make you happy without feeling greasy later.
This recipe was based on the School-Kine Spanish Rice recipe found in the “By Request Highlights: The Search for Hawai‘i’s Greatest Recipes Continues” (2017) by Betty Shimabukuro. The School-Kine Spanish Rice recipe was adapted from Hilo Union School. This dish was already gone from public schools by when I was attending grade school. However, the flavor was reminiscent of the warm, comforting hearty dishes that I remembered eating that didn’t have a name or specific identity. It might remind some of you of Hamburger Helper’s Cheesy Enchilada Rice but less cheesy. Check out the book of some of Hawaii’s best recipes here:
What makes this dish so great?
A meal for a family of 4 or 5 that is finished in under 30 minutes is a winner for many of us. I can chop the onion while the pan is heating, then chop the celery while the onion is cooking, and chop the garlic and green bell pepper while the celery is cooking. Then I brown the ground beef while I find my canned tomato and cheese and measure the leftover rice. The dish then simmers for a bit while I wash some fruit or get a quick side salad ready and tell my family that dinner is almost ready.
If you are using a stainless-steel pan and find that the food starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, there’s an easy trick to get the food unstuck. Add a few tablespoons of water to
the pot while the heat is on medium heat and scrape the bottom of the pan until the food is no longer stuck and incorporated into the rest of the dish. The water will create steam that will loosen the food. The dish doesn’t get watery because it’s a small amount of water and it will mostly evaporate.
Another great use for leftover rice
We always cooked more rice than we thought we needed. It was often used up when eating leftover dinner for lunch or for fried rice the next day. But what’s great about this Hawaii-Style Spanish Rice Recipe is that it has way less oil than fried rice.
If you have plastic Ziploc-style bags or similar reusable bags, pre-measure your rice before putting it in the fridge. When you take the rice out of the fridge the next day, you can use your hands to break up any clumps of rice while it is still in the bag. This is much easier than trying to do it with a spoon in a pot!
Canned Tomato Health Benefits
Many people tout the saying “fresh is best” and many times I agree. But everyone’s situation is different. Homes with two working parents will have an easier time getting dinner on the table with a pantry stocked full of canned tomatoes. It is convenient during times when tomatoes are not in season. There are weeks when parents can’t stop at the grocery store, so a stocked pantry and freezer can be a lifesaver. Home cooked and partially home cooked meals often have less sugar, salt, and fat compared to fast food and restaurant take out.
What’s also great about canned tomatoes is that they are higher in lycopene compared to fresh tomatoes. Lycopene is an antioxidant that is especially good for preventing and treating prostate cancer and may help defend against other types of cancer. It also has beta carotene, which is anti-inflammatory and promotes eye health. The Vitamin C in canned tomatoes also helps with iron absorption, so it is great to combine a protein like ground beef which is full of iron.
Just watch out for salt in these canned tomatoes. No-salt added canned tomatoes are more widely available now. If you are using canned tomatoes with salt for this recipe, there’s no need to add extra salt while cooking.
Looking for other one-pot dinner recipes? Try some of these other tasty and healthy options.
Hawaii-Style Spanish Rice
Equipment
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 5 Quart pan or 11" chicken fryer or 5-quart dutch oven
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or canola oil
- 1 onion diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 20 ounces lean ground beef
- 5 garlic cloves minced (about 2 ½ tsp)
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes unsalted
- ½ tsp salt (omit if using canned tomatoes with salt)
- 4 cups cold cooked brown rice
- 4 cheese slices
Instructions
- Put the oil in the pan and heat on medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and celery and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until softened.
- Add the ground beef and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain excess fat from pot using a paper towel and discard.
- Add the garlic, bell pepper, black pepper, and ground cumin and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt (if using), and rice. Lower heat to medium and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened to your liking.
- Put the slices of cheese on top of mixture. Cover pot, reduce heat to low, and warm through until cheese melts, about 1 minute.
