This summer, I was fortunate enough to spend six weeks in a small city called Segovia, Spain, for an advertising and public relations study abroad program. Segovia, famous for its Roman aqueducts, cochinillo (roasted baby pig) and festivals dating back to the 15th century, is truly one of a kind.

While in Spain, I ate my way through tapa after tapa — small bites or appetizers in Spanish cuisine — and explored various restaurants throughout Segovia, Madrid, Barcelona and even Tenerife, a Spanish island off the coast of Morocco.

During my six week stay, I lived with an incredibly kind and generous host family who introduced me to many authentic, delicious Spanish dishes. Every day after my summer classes, I would walk up the hill back to my host family’s house and sit down for lunch with them. Lunch is considered the most important meal of the day in Spain, and the food prepared usually represents that. My host mom explained to me that in Spain, it’s very important for the whole family to be together to enjoy lunch, and oftentimes there will be multiple courses served.

I ate delicious meals at lunch time, such as a seafood paella and bonito stew. Some of my favorites were mixed salad dressed with oil and vinegar, pasta with chorizo and tomato sauce and  my host dad’s white rice.

What could be so special about white rice, you may ask? This was genuinely the most flavorful and delicious rice I have ever tasted in my life. I probably ate this rice at least three times a week once my host dad Angel saw how much my roommate and I enjoyed it.

This recipe is quick to follow and only uses three ingredients, but it still manages to be packed full of flavor. The rice works well with chicken, steak and any other protein you want to add to your meal.

Angel even asked my roommate and me to video record himself making the rice so we could follow the recipe back home and share it with anyone else who may be interested. If you want to follow along with the recipe directly, click here.

Ingredients:

• White onion

• Sunflower oil

• My host dad uses the brand KoipeSol, but any sunflower oil should be just fine.

• White rice

• Jasmine, Uncle Bens and any other white rice should work.

Instructions:

1. Dice half of your white onion and add a generous amount of sunflower oil into your pot.

2. Add your diced onion into the pot and let it cook on high until the onion is translucent. Once your onion is cooked, add 1 cup of white rice to the pot and stir until the rice absorbs the oil before adding two cups of water.

3. Stir the rice and bring the water to a boil before putting a lid on your pot and bringing the heat down to low.

4. Let the rice cook for 10-15 minutes before removing the pot from the heat and letting it rest for about 5 minutes.

5. Take the lid off your pot and let the rice rise for 20-30 minutes before serving.

6. Enjoy!