Down and dirty!

Tonight I experimented without a net (read: recipe). As I had a few random veggies left, none of which were plentiful enough to actually make a whole meal out of, I decided to make dirty rice, which is a dish my husband claims to really enjoy.

The nice thing about dirty rice is that you can really switch up the ingredients, depending on what you have on hand, and still come out with something great. My meal didn't turn out exactly as I had expected, but we really enjoyed it anyway.

Here's what I used:

Turkey breast (boneless, skinless) cut into bite sized chunks
Brown rice
Celery
Green Pepper
Fresh parsley
Tomato
Green onions (spring onion)
Leeks
Onion
Salt/Pepper
Crushed pepper flakes (for heat, therefore optional)
Chicken stock
White wine
Cinammon
Garlic
Basil
Oregano
Margarine
1/2 can of tomato paste

Ouf! That's a lot of ingredients. But don't be scared away! I didn't even realize what a long list this was until I wrote it out, and you know why? Because I wasn't following a recipe and just threw in whatever I had available and thought would taste nice.

I began by browning all the veggies in the margarine until they became soft. Then I added in the chicken pieces, spices and tomato paste and allowed that to cook as I stirred for a few minutes. Next I put in a few cups of chicken stock, the white wine and the brown rice.
I covered the pot tightly and prayed that the rice would absorb the broth before the chicken became overcooked.

The next step was purely personal....I left the house to pick up my husband from work. When I came home 35 minutes later, the dirty rice was ready and the bottom of the bot was blackened and burned! Yikes! Luckily I just avoided the bottom of the pot as I scooped out large gobs of the dirty rice into bowls for us. It was delicious, very filling and real stick-to-the-bones comfort food. I'll definitely be making this again, although I'll watch the pot next time.

And now...off to wash the dishes in our BRAND NEW DISHWASHER!!