Slow-Cooker Spanish Rice

Terrence is losing his mind in Atlanta. He calls every day. Sometimes twice. The calls are getting longer and more desperate — not desperate for me, but desperate for proximity to the belly, to the kicks, to the baby that's growing in a city he can't drive to because the state lines might as well be national borders. He said: "I feel like I'm missing it. I feel like the baby is going to come and I'm going to be on FaceTime instead of in the room." I said: "You might be. And that might be okay." He said: "It's not okay." And he's right. It's not. But okayness is a luxury that 2020 doesn't sell.

Thirty-two weeks. Eight months. The baby is approximately the size of a squash (the app is back on squash — we've done the full vegetable cycle). The kicks are visible from the outside now — Chloe sits on the couch and watches my belly and when the baby kicks she shouts "THERE!" like she's watching a whale breach. Jayden tries to kick back. He puts his foot against my belly and presses. I said, "You can't kick the baby." He said, "I'm playing with it." He's playing with his sibling through the wall of my body. The first game. Kick-and-press. It's not in any parenting book. It should be.

Chloe asked: "When the baby comes, will the virus be gone?" I said: "I don't know, honey." She said: "Will I get to hold it?" I said: "Absolutely." She said: "Good. Because I've been practicing." She's been practicing. PRACTICING holding a baby. She borrowed the stuffed elephant from Jayden (negotiations were intense) and has been carrying it around the apartment, cradled in her arms, supporting the head ("You have to support the head, Mama, I watched a video"). My eight-year-old is training for sisterhood or brotherhood via YouTube and a stuffed elephant. If competence were a gene, Chloe has it doubled.

The money situation is... manageable. Unemployment, Terrence's contributions, and the savings I'd been building (small, but real — the dental hygienist discipline of putting $50 in an account every paycheck for three years). I did the math. We can make it to August, when the office MIGHT reopen. Might. That word again. "Might" is the most common word of 2020. Everything might. Nothing is.

I made a big pot of beans and rice — red beans, long-grain rice, a ham hock I found in the freezer from before the world ended. Beans and rice is the poverty meal, the survival meal, the meal that costs $4 and feeds five people for two days. I'm not ashamed of beans and rice. I grew up on beans and rice. Lorraine raised three kids on beans and rice and Kroger-discount chicken. The beans don't know about furloughs or pandemics. The beans cook the same in 2020 as they did in 1998. The beans are reliable. In a world where Waffle House is closed, the beans are the last honest institution.

The beans that week reminded me that some foods just don’t need you to have it together — they cook anyway, reliably, without drama. This Slow-Cooker Spanish Rice works the same way: you put it in, you walk away, and it’s there when you come back. With Chloe doing her elephant-cradling practice laps around the apartment and Jayden playing kick-and-press with the baby, I needed a dinner that could take care of itself while I couldn’t. This recipe fed us without fuss, and right now, that’s everything.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Prep the slow cooker. Lightly coat the inside of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray or a thin layer of olive oil to prevent sticking.
Combine the base. Add the uncooked rice, diced tomatoes (with juices), tomato sauce, chicken broth, and olive oil to the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
Add the aromatics. Stir in the diced onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper until everything is evenly distributed.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or on LOW for 4 to 4 1/2 hours, until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid. Do not lift the lid during the first 2 hours.
Check and fluff. When the rice is cooked through and no liquid pools at the bottom, remove the lid, fluff with a fork, and let it rest uncovered for 5 minutes to release steam.
Serve. Spoon into bowls and serve as a side or main dish. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, or fresh cilantro if you have them — or just as it is, which is enough.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow-Cooker Spanish Rice — The Meal That Shows Up When Everything Else Doesn’t