Recipes

Low-Calorie Spanish-Inspired Rice Recipe

Spanish-inspired rice

Bring the taste of summer holidays to your kitchen with this delicious, flavour-packed, Spanish-inspired vegetable rice recipe.

When you’re following the OPTIFAST Intermittent Fasting or Partial Meal Replacement plan, you can enjoy some conventional foods alongside continuing to consume OPTIFAST meal replacement products.

We recommend creating low-calorie meals that are centred around lean protein and non-starchy vegetables. However, you can include some healthy carbs from time to time too.

This dish combines rice with vegetables, tinned tomatoes, olives, saffron and fresh herbs, creating a vibrantly coloured savoury burst of Mediterranean flavour. Enjoy this Spanish-inspired rice as a filling main course for lunch or dinner.

Low-Calorie Spanish-Inspired Rice Recipe

Servings
4

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper, washed, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 150 g mushrooms, washed and sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 2 tsp olive or vegetable oil
  • 200 g long grain white rice
  • 250 ml reduced salt chicken stock
  • 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 1/4 tsp saffron
  • 10 pitted black olives
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley or basil

Method

  1. Wash the pepper and mushrooms; deseed and finely chop the pepper and slice the mushrooms. Peel the onion and garlic, then finely chop the onion and crush the garlic.

  2. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is softened and translucent – add a small amount of water if you need to prevent the garlic from burning.

  3. Stir in the long grain rice and cook for 5 minutes. Then, add the stock, chopped tomatoes and saffron, and stir to combine.

  4. Cover the pan with a lid, turn the temperature to low and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Check and stir occasionally to ensure the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.

  5. When almost cooked through, add the sliced pepper and mushrooms, stir and leave to simmer for another 8-10 minutes, until almost all of the liquid is absorbed.

  6. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the olives and chopped herbs, divide into four portions and serve.

Nutritional Facts

Amount per serving

Calories 306
Total Fat 7g
Saturated Fat 1g
Sodium 887mg
Total Carbohydrates 51g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Sugar 7.5g
Protein 7g

Allergens: vegetable stock ingredients will vary, may contain celery.

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2021-02-22 09:29:15By Health & Nutrition Expert



Health & Nutrition Expert

Health & Nutrition Expert

Writer and expert