This is one of our family faves. It's great for a crowd, but also great as a side dish any old time.
And it's simple!
My only caveat is to use good rice. I use Basmati, but Jasmine or another good quality rice is fine. The good rice gives it's flavor and texture twice over!
So basically, dirty rice is achieved by cooking the rice in seasoned water. Then we add whatever veggies we have on hand, water chestnuts (for crunch) and any leftover meat or seafood.
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| M&M PHOTOBOMB!!!!! |
And if it's raw veggies, I steam them lightly in the microwave first because we only stir them into the rice at the end and heat through, so you don't want them too raw. I did that with the celery and carrots this time, but you can use any veggies you want!
And for Kav and other vegetarians, you can simply use Sazon seasoning in your water and dirty it up with Cajun seasoning, salt and black pepper... not too spicy, though... unless you want it spicy!
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| Water chestnuts, canned or frozen corn, lightly steamed carrots and celery! |
I dirtied my water with equal combinations of Beef and Chicken Base by Tone's. That way it was a meat-stock base, then seasoned it with garlic and Cajun seasoning.
Nice and dirty!
And we had two grilled chicken breasts that needed a home and they found one in the dirty rice....
In the end I could honestly use this as a main dish. I really don't need anything else, a bowl of this is a meal for me.
But we paired it with grilled sausages and fresh rolls because men are DIFFERENT.
And that's all I'm sayin' 'bout that!
A great dish, great flavors, and quick to prepare gives Dirty Rice a win in our house!
I love this dish! we don't call it dirty rice, but it's the same thing. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll add some scrambled egg to it if I don't have leftover meat that needs a home. It's good food and feeds a growing family for pennies!
Of course, I make a smaller batch now that there's only two of us. And since it took some experimenting to pare that recipe down to two servings, we found that it works great as leftovers, too.
Exactly! So it's kind of like fried rice, except with a Cajun flare, and we all love it. Even the non-veggie lovers love it!
DeleteOhhh -- this does look yummy and easy! Like the idea of scrambling an egg instead of the meat. I'll have to remember this for when I think I don't have anything in the house to conjure up a meal with.
DeleteRuthy, I've never been a big fan of dirty rice, but you might get me to try this.
ReplyDelete