Spanish Rice!!!

There is nothing more comforting to me and my family than a big pot full of rice... but if you think about it just plain rice is great with butter and salt or soy sauce, but to me that gets kind of boring after a while.  To me Spanish Rice is the ultimate way to eat rice and the flavors that are infused into it make it one of the most amazing side dishes for me and my family.  In fact my mom loves to make this with chicken enchiladas for any special dinner, but this dish goes great with tacos, or any Mexican inspired meal you plan to have.  This dish means that we either have company coming over or we just want to eat incredibly flavored food together as we talk about our day.  As much as I want to take all of the credit... I have to give most of it to the Pillsbury Kitchen's Cookbook, and I would just like to take a quick moment to thank them for an amazing recipe, and a great canvas and challenge to tweak it and make it even better.  I think I have just the ingredient that does it.  But instead of me just telling you what that ingredient is we are going to play a little game called Guess the Ingredient!
Clue #1: Red or Green
Clue #2: Spicy
Clue #3: Small
That's right it's a jalapeno pepper!

Here's the recipe:

6 slices of bacon

1 Cup White or Brown Rice

1 Medium Onion, chopped

1/4 Cup Green Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Jalapeno Pepper, halved and seeded
2 Cups of Water

14.5 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes

1/4 Cup Ketchup plus another squirt

1 Tsp. Salt

1/8 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper

1. Fry the bacon in the pan and remove.

2. Cook the rice, onion, and bell pepper in about 2 tbls. of bacon fat until onion is nice and tender.

3. Mix the wet ingredients and seasonings and add to the rice mixture and throw in the pepper and crumble 1/2 of the bacon and mix in.

4. Simmer covered for 35-40 minutes stirring occasionally.  Top with the crumbled remaining bacon. Remove the jalapeno pepper and serve.

I don't chop up the jalapeno pepper and saute it, but I halve the pepper and take out the ribs and the seeds just so I can infuse the flavors of the liquid in this dish with the warm flavor of the pepper.  I decided to add the jalapeno which is not normally in the dish because when I think of Spanish/Mexican cuisine, I think of spice and warmth and comfort. I hope that you enjoy this recipe that my family has for years!