I'm trying to make the rice with tomato sauce 9w/out lima beans) and it tasted horrible. was it b/c I used too much salt?

Sorry to hear that.
Haitians usually use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce.
They would use a "very small amount" just enough to brown the peas/beans etc...
They rarely add tomato "sauces" to white rice (rice without beans/peas/any kind of legumes)
In Haitian cuisine, if the rice recipe calls for "tomato" (tomato paste, sauces or fresh tomatoes), the tomato is usually added to green peas, sweet peas, mixed vegetables, green beans, lima beans and herrings, spinach, and/or other legumes.
Good luck next time :)
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference (a work in progress at this time)