I HATE wasting food. It drives me crazy if I don’t eat produce before it goes bad. It doesn’t matter if it’s left over cabbage or fresh herbs, I do my best to throw dishes together with ingredients I have in my pantry. That’s how I came across Letty’s Kitchen’s Dirty Rice.
I had a left over leek (what do you do with a leek?) and chopped collards that needed to be eaten. Although I am usually a cauliflower rice girl, I do love how easy it is to throw a meal or side dish together just by adding leftover veggies and basic pantry items to rice.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of veggie stock
- 1 cup of brown rice
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 leek, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half moons
- 2 cups of mushrooms, chopped into small pieces (I used baby bellas)
- 2 cups of finely chopped collards, stems removed (as best as you can if bought in a bag like I did)
- 1 tbsp of soy sauce
- 2-4 dashes of cayenne pepper, to taste
- 2-3 tbsp of nutritional yeast (I like mine “cheesy” so I used about 3 tbsp)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to saute
(Serves 5-6 people as a side)
Bring the veggie stock to boil in a sauce pan. Add the rice and bay leaf, cover, and reduce heat to low. Allow the rice to cook fully, about 30 minutes or so, before removing from heat. Liquid should be absorbed. Discard bay leaf.
Heat olive oil in a large pan or skillet. Saute the leeks and garlic for about 2-3 minutes on a medium heat setting. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. The mushrooms will darken. Add the collards and cook for 2 more minutes before reducing the heat to low.
Carefully, stir in the cooked brown rice into the skillet mixture. Mix in the rest of the spices: soy sauce, cayenne pepper, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat and enjoy. This recipe is great as a side dish for 5-6 people, if you don’t eat it all yourself!
