Cilantro Lime Rice

I have to admit, Cinco de Mayo is a favorite of mine.  It's not really celebrated by anyone in Mexico (their independence day is actually September 16) so I don't feel bad about making this day completely revolve around Mexican foods and drinks.

Well this year, I got a little carried away.  For dinner, we had slow-cooked barbacoa beef, cilantro lime rice, pinto beans, homemade mango salsa, homemade restaurant-style salsa, guacamole, tortillas, and chopped vegetables.  When there's only two of us, that makes for enough leftovers to feed a small army.  However, of all the different dishes we had on Thursday night, I believe the cilantro lime rice was my favorite (although with my husband's guac, it was a close call).

I almost always buy brown rice because of the higher nutrition content but this time, it was so, so worth it to have white rice.   The recipe is very simple, too.  A little chopping of cilantro, a squeeze of lime and a few teaspoons of canola oil really sets it apart from plain ol' white rice.  Bryant gave it the highest of compliments when he said that it tastes like Chipotle's rice (indeed, the recipe was branded as a knock-off of their rice!).  Although we had this as a filling for our burritos, it was also delicious on its own as a side dish.

Cilantro Lime Rice
Taken from: Gina's Skinny Kitchen
Serves 4

• 1 cup extra long grain white rice or basmati rice
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
• 3 tsp vegetable oil

1. In a small heavy pot, add rice, water, 1 tsp oil and salt. Boil on high until most of the water evaporates. When the water just skims the top of the rice, reduce to low and cover about 15 minutes. Shut off flame and keep covered an additional 5 minutes.
2. Add chopped cilantro, lime juice, and remaining oil to the pot and toss until completely mixed. Serve as a side dish or as a filling for burritos.