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This is one dish I remember my mother making a lot. She liked to pair it with Salmon Patties. I haven’t made it in quite sometime but the timing seemed perfect today because I’ve harvested more tomatoes than we can eat before they go bad but not enough to can.
My mother would use canned tomatoes, bacon drippings, long grain rice and seasoning in her. I changed my recipe up just a bit but still maintained that good ol’ fashioned Tomato and Rice flavor.
2 sliced bacon, diced
2 tbsp. minced onion
4 cups (approx.) of chopped fresh tomatoes or an equilivant amount of canned.
1 cup Basmati rice, uncooked
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
Brown the bacon. This bacon was so lean I had to add a tiny amount of olive oil to get to start cooking.
Once the bacon has started to brown, put before it’s completely done, add the onion and cook just 2 or 3 minutes until it starts to soften up.
Add the diced tomatoes and use them to deglaze the pan. You should have some wonderfully browned “goody” in the bottom of your pan. My grandmother never knew fancy cooking terms like “caramelization” and “deglaze”. But she taught both my mother and me that the brown in the pan is where your “goody” comes from. You don’t want to leave it in there. So don’t be leaving any of that “goody”. I had roughly 4 cups of tomatoes. I didn’t measure the amount. Just eyeballed it.
This is a combination of Big boy, Lemon Boy, German Queen and Mr. Stripey.
Tomatoes in pan. Stir well. Remember the “goody”.
Add one cup Basmati rice. Stir.
Add two cups of water, salt and pepper. Stir. Cook uncovered on medium heat until most of the water has cooked out. Don’t let the water cook completely out. We’re not done yet.
After the water has cooked down just below the surface of the tomatoes, stir, cover and take it off the heat for about 10 minutes longer. The rice will continue to absord the liquid and cook without the risk of being burned slap up.
Enjoy your Tomatoes and Rice!
Andrea Broom says
tomatoes and rice sounds like such a simple but delicious rice dish, I would love this to have as a base for different things, like a marco bowl or something along those lines.
Jackie Garvin says
Andrea,
You can do so much with this dish as a base and build on it.
Judy K says
My mom used to make this except using cooked macaroni instead of rice. Eats like a warm hug !!
Jackie Garvin says
“Eats like a warm hug.” That’s a perfect description. ❤️
Lynn says
So easy! I make this dish all the time for myself and am the only one in my family that likes it! I make it just like my mother did with leftover ham, canned tomatoes and rice. Can’t leave out the ham! Yum!
Jackie Garvin says
I’ve added ham, too. Sausage is good in it, also.
Debra Taylor says
I was raised on this and have forgotten how much I LOVED it! Thank you for sharing, I’ll be keeping this. I also had it made with elbow macaroni. Ummm
Jackie Garvin says
Thank you! Macaroni and tomatoes are quite popular. They seem to be a regional favorite. My family made a lot of tomatoes and rice but never macaroni and tomatoes.