Amazing Green Rice
Is It Too Much To Make a Batch Of Green Rice Every Week?
Because that’s where my heart is at.
I could eat this green rice at every meal, a hundred different ways. It’s fluffy, flavorful, so pleasantly spicy, and loaded with green goodness.
Traditionally green rice (arroz verde) is made with lots of herbs, plus jalapeños and/or poblanos for the heat, and is typically served as a side with Mexican or Latin American dishes.
But for this green rice, the base is spinach, and the heat comes from a serrano, which creates a spicy, herbal flavor that can go so many directions. It’s great with more traditional Mexican dishes, like these chicken tinga tacos, or enchiladas verdes, but it actually goes really well with Thai or Indian dishes (like a creamy yellow curry, for example). I also love it with more smoky-sweet BBQ flavors, like grilled BBQ chicken! Really, really versatile.
And possibly my favorite usage? It makes for epic bowls! Like:
- Green rice + chicken skewers and creamy corn (pictured, my favorite at the moment)
- Green rice + black beans and a fried egg (perfect fast WFH breakfast-lunch)
- Green rice + air fryer salmon (so good with the sweetness of that salmon rub)
- Green rice + air fryer chicken (no brainer)
A word for kids: this green rice definitely packs some heat, so my daughters (3 and 5) are a “no thank you” on this one (or maybe that’s just because it’s green). But I like it so much that it’s worth it to me to make this just for me and Bjork! So yummy.
One of the ways I make decisions about which recipes I share here on POY is to ask myself: how much do I want to eat the leftovers? And since I spent all morning sitting at toddler gymnastics and dreaming about what kind of bowl I would be building with my leftover green rice for lunch, I think this one makes the cut.
Blitz the greens.
You’re going for a finely chopped texture. Doesn’t have to be perfect.
Toast Your Rice.
Oil + rice in the pan and just let it get roasty toasty for better flavor! Add your mincey greens and let those cook down for a minute, too – it’ll smell reeeeeally good !