Have you ever found yourself making dinner and needed to come up with a quick side or two?  That’s exactly the situation I found myself in the other evening.  I had tamales that I was going to reheat, but I needed some sides.  The obvious solution was Spanish rice or beans as well as a salad or vegetables.  The problem was that I didn`t have any canned beans that I thought would be a good accompaniment, and I didn’t want to make any rice because I already had a 4 cup container of leftover white rice in the refrigerator.

I considered my options and came to a conclusion.  I could make a fried rice, but instead of using the Asian flavors, I would stir in salsa from a jar.  I was confident that this would work.

I heated the oil in a large and deep skillet.   Once it was hot, I added the leftover rice and stirred until the rice was heated through.  Then,  I tossed in the salsa and continued to stir and toss until the salsa was well incorporated and the entire dish was heated through.  The result was a very easy Spanish rice that was well received.   Food Critic even had seconds.

Since I almost always keep jars of salsa in my pantry, I might just add this to my regular menu rotation.

Here’s your printable recipe.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.