Whether it goes by the name dirty rice, or rice dressing, or pilaf….this dish is friggin delicious! The classic version use things like chicken giblets, sausage, or pork to add flavor and give it the “dirty” look….of course i’m eschewing all those for something less fattening, more flavorful and sans the meat. Trust me, you’re not going to miss it here, this dish is a modern, elevated version of a classic southern (especially in louisiana) dish.
This dish (as i feel most rice dishes are) is better cooked in an instant pot or other electric pressure cooker, i’m sure it could also be adapted to a rice cooker, but i don’t have one of those and i’m not familiar enough with them to offer advice on conversions. I have, however, provided you with directions for stovetop cooking [you’re welcome.]
It starts with a classic southern/creole trinity of bell pepper, onion, celery. You can use whatever bell peppers you have on hand or can find at a decent price, red/orange/yellow will provide you with more sweetness and green will be a little more zippy, so you can also choose based on your taste preference. It will be delightful whatever you choose i assure you. Toasted pecans bring in some umami and nutty flavours to mimic a little of the quality of smoked meats, aka (red) miso provides saltiness and a meaty quality reminiscent of pork when combined with the other flavors. Wild rice provides a wonderful earthiness, grounding the dish and brings a lovely chewy texture to boot. Classic southern/creole spices coupled with fresh parsley and basil give the dish a fantastic french quarter cafe flavor, it’s just amazing. If you can’t have nuts, don’t worry, this dish is totally delicious without (we make it without them quite a bit ourselves) so just leave them out and carry on!
(psst! you can make short work of chopping the vegges with your food processor if you want, they really don’t need to be consistent in size)
This rice makes an insanely good base for creole red beans, but don’t stop there….have it as a side with just about anything (the fusion of flavors makes it highly adaptable, it goes well with spanish/mexican/tex mex foods, american foods, southern foods….), eat it on it’s own, use it in burritos, and one of my favorites, use it to make some southern rice bowls! just throw some braised greens, fresh roasted corn, fried green tomatoes and some BBQ tempeh on top, maybe some smoky black eyed peas, and boom! instant. happy. [do this do it now]
To finish this off extra special, finely chop up some of your leftover bits and pieces of ingredients, peppers, onion, scallion, herbs….toss with a drizzle of oil, salt and a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle over the top! super simple, fast, easy, yum yum yum etc.