Sunday, December 11, 2011

Recipe: Creole Dirty Rice!

 

I’ve been told that “true” dirty rice is only made with chicken livers and gizzards.

Firstly: Ew.

Secondly: The oldest Cajun cookbook I own calls for pork roast, no gizzards or livers to be found. 

Therefore, I believe that leaves this dish open for interpretation.  And so, in this incarnation, we’ll be using lean ground beef. 

Also, because we were short on rice in our pantry, we used pearled barley in this dish as well (yay for Kitchen Improv!).  If you haven’t worked with barley, it’s a great fluffy whole grain with tons of soluble fiber (8g per 1/4 cup), vitamin E, thiamin, riboflavin, and lysine.  And it soaks up the flavor of whatever you put it in, so it’s a perfect rice replacement

The base for today’s recipe comes from Chef John Folse’s “After the Hunt” cookbook—one of my faves.

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Ingredients:

3 cups prepared brown rice

3 cups prepared quick barley

1lb 96% lean ground beef

2 tsp cajun seasoning

1 tbsp oil

1 cup onions, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup bell pepper, diced

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup green onions

1/2 cup chopped parsley

salt & cracked black pepper, to taste

garlic powder, to taste

 

Directions:

Prepare rice & barley (I mad them together, since both the quick barley & minute rice have the same prep method & about the same prep time):

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In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high.  Sauté the beef, Cajun seasoning, onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic until the beef is fully cooked and the onions are translucent.

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Add the chicken stock to the pan & bring to a low boil until the liquid has reduced by half.  Fold in rice, barley, onions, & parsley.  Season to taste with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Then…DIG IN!!!

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Serves 6-8.

Nutrifacts:

Calories 250.4

  Total Fat 4.5 g

  Saturated Fat 1.7 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Cholesterol 32.5 mg

  Sodium 122.6 mg

  Potassium 210.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 34.8 g

  Dietary Fiber 4.0 g

  Sugars 1.0 g

  Protein 16.5 g

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