Arroz con huevo or rice with egg {Ultimate Latin Lazy lunch}

Arroz con huevo, or rice with fried egg, is the ultimate Latin style lazy lunch. This was my go to lunch as a high school student, especially if I was hanging out with friends and our moms weren’t around. Don’t let the “lazy” part confuse you, even now as an adult (who can somewhat cook) I still find this dish is so delicious and comforting. The only difference is that now I usually add some extra sides like fried ripe plantains, avocado slices and tomato onion curtido salsa for a perfect Latin comfort meal. The combination of Latin style cooked rice, a bite of egg, ripe plantain and the curtido are so mouthwatering-ly good!

I used to make fun of my husband, Nicolas, because while in college his “specialty” dish was pastas and ketchup (yes, this is a French guy going to college in Lyon, a city known for its culinary greatness) and his German roommate used to tease him about his “high French cuisine”. Well, I this arroz con huevo or rice with fried eggs is my equivalent of “high South American cuisine”. Arroz con huevo is the classic lazy person’s meal in South America; this is our ramen noodle equivalent.

Students, especially those who don’t want to or don’t know how to cook, are known to live on this dish, I knew quite a few guys who could only cook rice with egg. Some of the best after school lunches in high school (our school days were over at 1pm) took place with my friend Ines and her specialty was rice with egg (she has added a lot more dishes to her current repertoire). She loved to add ketchup to hers which I still don’t understand, of course it turns out that my kids like it that way also. So even though arroz con huevo is not the most sophisticated dish, I have great memories of the times I ate it and I make it on those days when I crave it or when I’m in a hurry. A final thing I’ve discovered as an adult: a glass of wine goes well with arroz con huevo.