Right there in the center of our Mexican Pizza is the success of an experiment from last night. On my menu plan I had written Spanish Rice but I didn't have the ingredients on hand to make my usual version. What I did have was brown minute rice and many cans of tomatoes from a recent sale in town.

All of a sudden I had an ah ha moment and went with it. What I did was drain all the liquid from a can of diced tomatoes with chilies into a liquid measuring cup. I had about 3/4 cup of tomato juice and added enough water to get 1 cup. I brought the liquid to a boil in a small saucepan and added 1 cup of Minute Rice.

To cook I followed the package directions which was to cover and let simmer for 5 minutes then remove from the heat, stir, cover and let sit another 5 minutes. Once it was all ready to go I stirred in a couple scoops of the diced tomatoes.

The end result was spectacular and I am still in shock over how easy it was. If you are in a pinch and need a great side dish give this one a try.