Reviewed: Oct. 18, 2009

I also don't agree with the four and five star ratings, sadly. I followed the recipe exactly and it was without any interesting flavors. I had to doctor it up quite a bit before serving it at a potluck. Not worth the time or the ingredients.

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Marianne

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Reviewed: Jul. 29, 2009

Not great, not terrible.... This didn't float me or my fiance's boat (sorry!). This reminds me of a pre-pkg. Mex. rice mix I bought months ago (which my fiance & I didn't care for...). For all of the effort involved (i.e. chopping, sauteeing, toasting) & the cost incured (pinenuts aren't cheap!), the end result was not what I expected. I was lucky to find annatto powder (checked my specialty spice store 1st, who, to my surprise only sold annatto seeds; I then stumbled upon a sm. pkg. of the stuff at my local Italian mkt. for $.99!), and I think that was what gave this side dish the pkg. rice mix taste my fiance and I don't like. I also must say that jen's direct. are not accurate. First, the amt. of liquid MUST be inc! In retrospect, I thought cooking my rice for 20 min. instead of 25 would have done the trick (my rice was quite "mushy"), but I still had a few "stray" crunchy grains, even after cooking for the full 25 min. I ended up add. ~1/4 c. chx. broth which seemed to help. Also, jen's direct. suggest using salt 2X, but only 1 measurement is incl. in the ingred. list. Same for the annatto powder. The 1st measurement (i.e. 2 t) is accounted for, but the other is not (what do you do w/ the remainng 2 t??? - I nixed it alltogether). Finally, I could barely taste the nuts, corn or beans (defeats the purpose of add. them...) & the "yield" is for WAAY more than 4 ppl. (my gosh!!!). Perhaps add. the garnishes would have made this better??? Oh well! Thx. anyways, jen :)

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Mickey

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: De Soto, Missouri, USA

Living In: Elgin, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2009

Loved this! I just used canned corn (drained and pan-roasted),canned black beans (drained) along with one pkg. spicy link sausage,cooked,crumbled,and one lb. smoked sausage,sliced and browned, and took this to our church pot-luck. Everyone was asking for the recipe! My kids just wanted to put it in a tortilla and go!!

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bbwhitx5

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Reviewed: Jul. 9, 2009

WOW!~ So good, I followed as close as I could having to sub. very little: red bell pepper instead of green, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper instead of pepper flakes and I used other reviewers tip of 1+1/2 tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp turmeric for the annatto powder. I also just used the whole cans of black beans and corn so not to have leftover in the fridge... Everything just enhanced this recipe!.. The crunch of the nuts was good and the twist of lime, red onion and cilanto all came together pefect! I didn't eat the sliced red onions though, just put it just for presentation. Thanks for a great recipe!..

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Traci's Kitchen

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Modesto, California, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 22, 2009

throw all kinds of things in it

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Rakel

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Reviewed: May 19, 2009

Very flavorful - it's the lime that does the trick! I could see it being even better with broth in place of the water, but no complaints from me as written. (Mostly as written - I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to spices, so I cut the cumin and red pepper flakes in half, which seemed perfect to me.) Definitely not cajun, but almost exactly what I was looking for to jazz up my beans and rice for dinner tonight!

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The Book Pixie

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Reviewed: Mar. 28, 2009

We improvised a little, but overall... Excellent recipe! It beats the stuff that you buy in a box at the store (no processed ingredients). Just remember to rinse your rice first (I didn't and it turned out a little gritty)!

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Roselyn

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Aug. 27, 2008

for an annatto substitute try 1/4 tsp. paprika plus generous pinch of tumeric (equals 1 tsp annatto)

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Elizabeth Ridout

Living In: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Jul. 8, 2008

Now this was good stuff. I omitted the annatto powder (couldn't find it at the store) and the pine nuts (didn't want to buy an entire jar just for this recipe), and it still turned out great. Easy to make, lots of flavor, looked great. Thanks, jen!

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Caroline C

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Jun. 26, 2008

This recipe was so good. My girlfriend and I made this as our first cooking experience as a couple. WE LOVED IT! The flavors are amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and it makes ALOT! BUT!! i think it was even better the next day after it sat in the fridge as left overs!

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borofirefighter

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Edinboro, Pennsylvania, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 3, 2008

Fabulous vegetarian rice dish. Ideal for a potluck because it tastes great at room temperature too. I'm making it for our next potluck of which there are many in the summertime. Thank you, thank you...

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Lesley

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Mar. 15, 2008

This recipe makes a TON of rice but it is wonderful. I did change a few things. I used red onion for the saute' then topped at the end with sliced green onions. I think it needs more pine nuts as they get lost. Didn't have the annatto chile and it was fine without it. I liked a little more lime and cilantro in it. Also, instead of water for the rice, I used equal amounts of chicken broth for extra flavor. This will be fabulous wrapped in a tortilla for a veggie lunch, can't wait to have it.

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Karen

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Oxford, Mississippi, USA

Living In: Collierville, Tennessee, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 23, 2008

I make this every year for a Fat Tuesday celebration at work. It is good hot, but I have also serve it cold at the pitch in (aka potluck.) Very popular dish. It is also good with shrimp and smoked sausage mixed in.

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NLNIEMEY

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Shoals, Indiana, USA

Living In: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2007

My boyfriend and I both loved this!! (Let's get one thing straight, though...this is definitely NOT the famous Cajun dirty rice - but that's obvious from the ingredients list. But it's still great!!) So...the ingredients list calls for 2 T olive oil, but I only remember seeing instructions for 1 T...maybe I missed a step somewhere, but it was just lovely with 1 T. I didn't even bother looking for the annatto powder, since so many people couldn't find it and based on some internet searches I did, it didn't seem like I'd miss it too much anyway. I did add 1 tsp ancho chili powder (in addition to the 1 T chili powder), but only cuz I really love the stuff! I was REALLY surprised how strong the cinnamon smelled, but how much it DIDN'T overpower the flavor. I used brown rice instead of white (same cooking time and amount of water), used 1 can of corn and 1 can of black beans (both drained), omitted the pine nuts (little too expensive for my blood) and the red onion (no particular reason...I think I'll add it next time -- I love red onion and I think it would have worked really well). Forgot about the cilantro...it probably would have been great to have, but I'll kind of "play it by ear" in the future, if I have some, I'll add it...if I don't, I won't! Still tastes awesome! I cooked up some pork chops seperately (used the chops from the Allrecipes Grandman Pork Chops and Rice recipe) and served those over the rice. They were perfect together. Leftovers were great for lu

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RedRobynNAU

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Tucson, Arizona, USA

Living In: Chandler, Arizona, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2007

One of my all time favorites. I used Ancho chili powder instead of Annatto because I didn't know what that was. Awesome recipe - 10++ Thanks for posting this one!

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Jodi

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Jun. 19, 2006

Really good and easy recipe. I followed the recipe except for the annato powder which i ommited becasue i didn't have any! It is even still good after being frozen and dethawed!

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Harm-o

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Reviewed: Jun. 4, 2006

This was delish!! Everyone had second helpings the night I made it. I used paprika instead of annatto and left out the green pepper since I didn't have it on hand. Very, very good. (If you're expecting a cajun style dish, you should read the ingredients more carefully. Tsk, tsk, tsk. ;)) I will definitely make this again.

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tata

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Reviewed: Mar. 5, 2006

Not what I expected, decent, but nothing spectacular. Kinda reminds me of Mexican take out.

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DASHOFSUGAR

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Reviewed: Jan. 26, 2006

This rice was delicious.

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Mandie

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Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2006

Oh my gosh, this was so good! The only changes I made was to use cubanelle peppers instead of green (too expensive this time of year), red kidney beans instead of black, and 1 tsp of ground chipotle chili pepper instead of the 2 tsp of annatto - it's what I had on hand. I served it as a side dish to the Cuban Pork Roast and Spicy Mango Salsa recipes also found on this site. Will definitely make again. Thank you, Jen!

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