Awoman I will refer to as Mrs. Lawyer (she is modest as well as creative and wants to remain anonymous) dreamed up Spamish Rice after I told her I was writing about low-cost entrees. Yup, it uses Spam, a product some people love and others do not. Spam has always been a lower-cost alternative to pricier proteins and combining it with rice, tomatoes, onion, celery and green pepper makes an economical main dish for a family.
We probably like it spicier than do Mr. and Mrs. Lawyer, who are Norwegians, after all, but the beauty of Spamish Rice is that you can control the heat quotient easily. I used Tabasco liberally, but a little chili pepper would also do the trick, if you want to give it a little kick.
Using the light version of Spam and brown instead of white rice ups the healthy aspect of this dish. The Spam website, www.Spam.com/eatspam/recipe, has plenty of other recipes, including one for Spanish rice, but that's a different animal from Spamish rice entirely. Another recipe we liked is Cheesy Country Spam Puff. I cut the cheese in the original recipe in half, to minimize the fat, and it was still plenty cheesy.
Anne Gillespie Lewis is a Minneapolis writer.
