Weekend Recipe: Part 2: Rice & Gravy from Pot Roast Leftovers

"Rice & gravy" is a staple dish in Louisiana homes, and refers to the basic "style" of the dish. Like so many Cajun dishes, this requires a modifier, as in, "what TYPE of rice & gravy?" which just mean what meat will be used. Sometimes it's a duck rice & gravy, there's beef rice & gravy, chicken rice & gravy...whatever's on-hand.

(Fun fact: I was not aware that there was more than one type of "spaghetti" until I moved to Louisiana. So when you tell a Cajun that you made spaghetti, they will ask "what kind?" This question refers to the type of meat you used. So a traditional meat sauce spaghetti would be "ground meat spaghetti", or there's shrimp spaghetti, chicken spaghetti, etc. But I'm getting off topic. ...and kinda craving spaghetti now.)

There are also traditionally two types of gravies down south--either brown or red. Red gravy is tomato-based, where brown gravy is usually made with the drippings from the meat.

Elsewhere in the world, this dish might be called smothered or stewed meat over rice. (But it probably tastes better in Louisiana...of course...I'm biased.)

So, since we have leftover pot roast, and delicious au jus from that roast, it's only fitting to make a nice quick rice & gravy!



How do we go about it? Couldn't be easier.

1. Take about 2 cups worth of au jus, roast & veggies (minus the potatoes--we don't need to double up on starches) & set aside.



2. Pour off the au jus into a measuring cup, then top it off with water until you have 1 cup of liquid.

3. Break out your trusty can of cajun gravy mix (if you don't have one, you need to. This stuff is fantastic on anything--mashed potatoes, steak (with some sauteed onions & mushrooms), and of course, rice & gravy--I mean...there's a recipe for it on the can.


4. In a saucepan, cook some rice--we like to use instant brown rice. Prepare as stated on the package.

5. In a large skillet, add the gravy mix and your 1 cup of water-au jus, and whisk thoroughly. Heat to boiling. The gravy will reduce down to a beautiful dark brown, like so, in a matter of about 4 minutes:


5. Add your pot roast leftovers to the gravy & heat over low.

6. Once your rice is nice & fluffy:


Serve the roast & gravy mix over rice, and DEVOUR.



Makes about 4 servings.

Nutrition facts:

Calories 347.5
Total Fat 12.3 g
Saturated Fat 4.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 55.0 mg
Sodium 489.7 mg
Potassium 204.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 28.9 g
Dietary Fiber 2.6 g
Sugars 1.8 g
Protein 25.2 g
Vitamin A 91.3 %
Vitamin B-12 0.0 %
Vitamin B-6 5.3 %
Vitamin C 7.5 %
Vitamin D 0.0 %
Vitamin E 1.1 %
Calcium 3.8 %
Copper 7.4 %
Folate 3.6 %
Iron 14.6 %
Magnesium 9.3 %
Manganese 12.0 %
Niacin 8.9 %
Pantothenic Acid 1.3 %
Phosphorus 2.6 %
Riboflavin 2.0 %
Selenium 0.5 %
Thiamin 6.7 %
Zinc 5.2 %