Arroz con gandules sin aceitunas

Drat! I nearly ruined perfectly good arroz con gandules tonight by forgetting to put olives in! It's ok -- it still tastes good, but not as good as with olives. What was I thinking? The good news is the grains came out very nicely -- just dry enough. But the gandules were mushy! That's the last time I follow a recipe for P.R. food! I'll just stick with what I can remember from Gramma. It just seems to come out better that way...