Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup brown rice (or 1 1/3 cups white extra long grain rice)
- 2/3 cup sweet bell pepper, medium chop
- 2/3 cup onion, medium chop
- 3 slices bacon
- 2 cups vegetable stock or broth, preferably low sodium
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- hot sauce, optional
Preparation
Step 1
In a saucepan fry the bacon until crisp and remove all but 1 Tbl. of the bacon fat. Set the bacon aside to drain for later use. Saute the peppers and the onion in the bacon fat until just tender – about 3 minutes. Set aside.
Warm the broth and whisk or stir in the tomato paste. In a heavy bottom pot (that has a lid) pour the broth/tomato mixture and heat to a boil. Mix in the rice, the vegetables, and the salt and stir. Turn down the heat and cover with lid. Simmer on a low heat for about 40-45 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. You can do this by tilting the pot to the side and see if any liquid is still in the bottom of the pot.
When you are reasonably assured all liquid has been absorbed, remove the lid and allow to sit for about 5 minutes off the heat. Then carefully fluff with a fork. The rice will be tender and slightly creamy. Serve immediately with crumbled bacon on top and hot sauce on the side, if desired. Serves 4-6.