Green Rice

We love the cilantro lime rice at Chipotle. We've tried to research recipes to recreate it as closely as possible, but so far everything's fallen short. I like the imitations, but they're nothing like the original to me. Anyway, last night we had enchiladas, and I really wanted a new rice recipe to go with it. I remember seeing Bobby Flay (maybe on a Throwdown episode, but I can't remember) making a green sauce with sauteed spinach for rice one time, so I incorporated that idea but with my own spin. We were very pleased with the result, so here it is.

Alicia's Green Rice

(serves 4)

1 cup basmati rice

2 Tbsp butter

juice of 1 lime

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

For Sauce:

1/2 cup chopped spinach

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/8 cup green chile enchilada sauce (or enough to make your desired consistency)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add rice and the juice of half a lime, and stir over the heat for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil stirring often. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes (or until the rice has absorbed all of the chicken stock). Add the rest of the lime juice and the chopped cilantro, then stir in the green sauce (directions below).

Green sauce: Process spinach, cilantro, and enchilada sauce in a food processor until smooth. (Note: I always use Pict Sweet frozen chopped spinach. It's very handy because you can keep it in the freezer and measure out as much as you need to thaw since it's not in a big block like boxed sauteed spinach.)

Enjoy!