If you can't pronounce it, perhaps there is a translation...

"Sopa Seca de Arroz con Huevos."

  I  don't speak Spanish--it's kind of amusing when I try-- but I really enjoy trying.  Especially when I get to roll my "r"s or say "Huevos", which is a delightful word.   That, I do happen to know, is eggs; everything else I would have to guess at, find a friend, or use the internet.  Luckily for me, my recipe has a translation: Dry soup of rice with eggs.  That got my attention.  Dry Soup?  Well, it refers to the preparation.  How do you start a soup?  You throw everything in a pot, possibly pre-cooking it.  And that's how this is made-- you throw everything in a pan, and let it cook.  The difference between this and regular soup is that you use only as much broth as the rice can absorb, leaving you with the delicious (in a couple ways) oxymoron of dry soup.

I like this recipe for several other reasons, not the least of which was that it is fairly simple.  Look at the ingredients:  canned tomoatoes, frozen peas, carrots, onion-- nothing really out of the ordinary, except maybe the herbs, and you could probably skip those.  Simple ingredients also allow flexibility-- want to substitute?  The writer suggested using corn in place of peas.  Want to add?  How about some chilis, cheese, or even meat?  I also liked the premise under which it was published-- the Omaha World-Herald shared it with readers as an alternative to fish-sticks for meatless Fridays.  It's a vegetarian dish meant to be filling and satisfying, even to people who aren't willing to give up meat.

Ingredients:

 - 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (I used Hunt's Fire-Roasted, for a little more flavor)

 - 1 Tbsp cooking oil

 - 3/4 C uncooked long-grain rice

 - 1/2 C chopped onion 

 - 1/3 C diced carrot

 - 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced

 - 1 1/2 C veggie broth 

 - 1/3 C frozen peas

 - 4 eggs 

 - 1 to 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley

 - Salt and Pepper to taste

To begin, reserve about 1/2 C of the tomatoes for serving-- you'll cook with the juice and about 3/4 C of tomatoes.  Heat the oil over medium heat in a 10-inch non-stick skillet. (I don't imagine larger would be a problem, but smaller may be pushing it.)  To the oil, add the rice, onion, carrot, and garlic.   Allow to cook for about 4-6 minutes.  The onion should be softened, but the rice should not brown.  I used brown jasmine rice rather than an ordinary "long grain" rice.  This ended up increasing the time I needed to let everything simmer (next step) by about 10 minutes, but gave a fragrant/nutty flavor to the dish that I absolutely loved.

Add broth and tomatoes and juice that have not been set aside for serving.  Bring the whole thing to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.  At this point, the rice should be soft, although some of the liquid may still be unabsorbed.  Stir in the peas, then make 4 indentations in the rice.  (I checked the seasoning at this stage, because it seemed easier to stir before I put the eggs in.)  Crack 1 egg into each indentation.  Cover and cook until the egg whites are set, about 8-10 minutes.  I turned the heat back up, and probably would have given it less time, but I needed to make sure the yolk set, too, because I was cooking for someone who finds runny yolks extremely off-putting.

To serve, sprinkle with the parsley or cilantro.  I used parsely because I had some on hand.  Cilantro would have given slightly more flavor to the dish, but I didn't necessarily feel it was lacking in flavor.  Fun fact about the flavor of cilantro, by the way: I read a while back that research suggests how people percieve the taste of cilantro is genetic.  Some people love it; others think it tasted like dishsoap.  Usually taste is a matter of preference and conditioning (like peanut butter or vegemite), but in the case of cilantro, there seems to be a genetic link. Anyway, back to the soup-- pass the reserved tomatoes at the table.  The recipe also suggested serving with corn chips and guacamole.  I didn't have guacamole (this made me sad), and didn't feel like eating chips.  So, I cut a wheat tortilla into wedges, laid them out in my toaster oven, and broiled them for about 5-7 minutes until they were crisp and ever-so-slightly brown.  (See photo, above-left)  I placed those in the bowl prior to serving the soup, along the side.  I also put cheese and sour cream on the table, because my family loves dairy products.
One final note about this recipe: it serves four.  Perfectly, as far as I was concerned.  I fed it to three people, two of whom took seconds (smaller than a full serving), and we had just enough left over that I cooked it with an egg and called it an omelette.

My fully-dressed bowl of Sopa Seca de Arroz con Huevos.  Yum!