Vegetarian Chickpea and Butternut Squash Pilaf

Don't let word vegetarian to trick you. This pilaf is full of flavor and utterly delicious. It is an easy and healthy recipe, you will love it! 

Blog's Category: Healthy, My Staple Food, Pilafs, Vegetarian

I cooked this pilaf numerous times and it was always up to expectation. Even my meat adoring husband loves this pilaf. For vegetarians it is one-meal-dish, full of nutrition and filling. 

This pilaf is really good with some pickled vegetables on a side, olives, pickles or sauerkraut. It is also a rich side dish for any meat dish.

Note 

- Recipe calls for basmati rice, but when I don't have it, I often use jasmine rice. 

- If you are not fan of carrots, grate or chop it finely, but do not omit it. You can even process raw carrots into course crumbles before adding it to a pilaf.

- We will cook pilaf, from beginning to the end, in one pot. Prepare a large, oven-proof pot, preferably wide and low (just for your convenience). 

- It is a limited ingredients for this pilaf. Do not omit any. Each of them has its role in a dish. You will be rewarded with a result - full-bodied, nutritious, comfort-food meal.

Vegetarian Chickpea and Butternut Squash Pilaf

• 2 large onions, peeled and diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks (or grated)
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced (small dices)
• 2 heads of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), rinsed
• 3 cups basmati rice, rinsed thoroughly and left in water to soak until required
• 1 cup flavorless olive oil
• 2-3 tsp salt
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (for mild spiciness)

- Prepare your ingredients as instructed above. As you start cooking, process will run fast.

- Turn oven on to 370F.

- Pour all olive oil in a pot and heat it up. Just before it starts to smoke, add onion and cook stirring until it soft and translucent. 

- Add carrots and butternut squash. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

- Drain your rice.  Add rice, garbanzo beans, garlic, salt and pepper to the pot with vegetables. Stir carefully all together, add 3 cups of boiling water. 

- Cover pot tightly with a lid or foil. Transfer to a pre-heated to 375F oven for 1 hour. 

- Enjoy!



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IN PICTURES

For Middle Eastern pilafs, as it was in South-Asian republics of USSR, traditionally, carrots were cut into thick sharp-edged matchsticks. I do the same. But sometimes, people, kids especially, don't like those carrot pieces in pilaf. Feel free to chop carrots finely, perhaps in a kitchen processor. Or grate them. Small pieces of carrots, cooked in oil first and then cooked in rice, will be rather invisible, still giving sweetness and flavor to whole dish. 

 It seems like it is a lot of oil. Do not be afraid to use that much oil. It is customary using a lot of oil in pilafs. Trust me, I regret using less when I tried.

 I'm not sure why this time I decided to use smaller pan to fry vegetables and then transfer all into glass dish before popping it in an oven. Please do as I instructed in a recipe - use a large, oven-proof pot for everything, cooking on a stove, adding all ingredients and then cooking in an oven.

 Picture does not tell you how yummy it is. Well... it is!

You may think this pilaf does not have any flavorful spices! Then you probably have no idea how much flavor all these ingredients have, well enough to forget about any kind of regular spices ;) Please try this recipe as is!

Mujadara

Mujadara is a real comfort food, Middle Eastern way! As an extra bonus, it is also very healthy choice, great take-to-work lunch idea and kids friendly.

Blog's Category: Healthy, International, Kid's Favorite, Pilafs, Side Dish, Vegetarian

- Mujadara, sometimes spelled as mujaddara, is a popular vegetarian dish from Middle East. 

- Key ingredients for mujadara are rice, lentils and fried onion.

- It can be used as a great side for grilled meat or as a stand alone, pretty filling, vegetarian meal.

- Some cooked vegetables can be mixed in Mujadara, such as carrots, celery, bell peppers or hot chili pepper. But Mujadara is the best served with diced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and maybe some fresh cilantro on top. Today I topped mujadara with fresh cilantro and served yellow tomato salad on a side. Also a cup of cold buttermilk on a side is a great addition to your mujadara meal.

- Plain brown or green lentils are the best for mujadara. French green lentils, or black beluga lentils (which I actually have used this time for my mujadara) are not the best just because they will make mujadara sort of dry.

- Basmati rice is preferable for mujadara. Although I often use jasmine rice, just try not to overcook it, add less water than usually.

- You can change measures depending on you liking more rice, or more lentils. I like my mujadara with a lot of lentils :) Yes, and a lot of onion too!

Mujadara

• 2 cups of cooked lentils (not overcooked, they should more or less keep their shape)
• 2 cups of cooked rice (leftovers are perfect for this recipe)
• 5 tbs olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 tsp cumin seeds (optional, but highly desirable)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (if you like spicy food)
• salt to taste

As a garnish use all or any of these:

• fresh chopped tomato
• fresh chopped cucumber
• fresh chopped onion
• fresh cilantro
• unsweetened yogurt or buttermilk
• chopped pickles or pickled jalapeno

- In a large skillet/pan heat oil. Add cumin seeds and black pepper and stir fry for about half of a minute until fragrant.

- Add onion. Cook until golden. Set a half of cooked onion aside to use it as topping. Add rice, lentils, ground cumin, cayenne pepper and cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

- Taste, add some salt if needed. Serve hot or warm, topped with fried onion and fresh vegetables. Enjoy!



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In Pictures

Don't forget to rinse lentils. Here I used black lentils which keep their shape wonderfully but made my mujadara somewhat dry. No worry though.. salad on a side, extra onions on top, cup of yogurt solved this problem easily.

Cumin and pepper will sizzle nicely in an a hot oil. Don't burn them. A few seconds may be enough before adding onions.

Don't forget to set aside some cooked onions for garnishing.

Cilantro is optional. You can mix it in at the end or just use it as a garnish.

Orange Pork Pilaf

You can't go wrong with a convenience of one-meal dish like this. Also Orange Pork Pilaf is not just convenient choice for your daily meals. It's delicious, full of flavors treat for a whole family.

Blog's Category: Healthy, My Own Fast and Easy, My Staple Food

Intro

As a main provider of everyday meals for my family, I begun to appreciate pilaf a long time ago. It is such a convenient and versatile type of food. Cooked on weekend, it can be stretched through whole week as a handy, ready to eat meal. There are tons of recipes for a pilaf. Almost every nationality has its own version of it. This time I've made my own version of pilaf and was very pleased with the result.

If there is orange chicken, why not to cook orange pork... pilaf? As, in my mind, it meant to be a one-dish-meal type recipe, I included a whole lot of vegetables, mostly carrots and onion. If you are not a big fan of cooked carrot, then no worries, in this recipe cooked carrot looses its natural somewhat weird flavor, acquiring subtle fruity aroma from orange.


What is it?

Added to a pot in a certain order, onion, carrots, pork, orange juice, orange zest, rice and olive oil are cooked together. Along with some well balanced seasoning, it creates Orange Pork Pilaf.

Taste Description

Pilaf has mild, but nice, multilayered flavors - orange and garlic give away its powerful aromas to vegetables, pork and rice. Great flavors of all ingredients are merged together, creating beautiful bouquet. Sweetness of onion and carrots play nicely with fruity acidity of orange and good amount of black pepper. Texture of perfectly cooked rice, soft bits of almost disintegrated vegetables and tender pieces of pork are ideal vessel for all these flavors.

How to Serve

Serve hot or warm. Pilaf will keep in a fridge for about a week - so make plenty of it ;).


Note

- If you don't mind to make your pilaf really orange-y, add one more orange, zest and juice. Just do not forget to adjust water accordingly.

- I used regular pot for pilaf. Although a dutch oven is the best. But remember, not having the one, is not an excuse...

Orange Pork Pilaf

• 3 cups lean pork, cut in small bite size pieces
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 5 large carrots, coarsely grated
• 3 cups of rice, rinsed well
• 1 large orange, zest and juice
• 2/3 cup of olive oil
• 20 garlic cloves, pilled, whole, not chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups of hot water

- Before starting cooking, make sure all ingredients are prepared - chopped, grated, zested, juiced, rinsed. etc.

- In a large pot, in olive oil, cook onion for 2 minutes, stirring. Then add pork, continue to cook, stirring, for about 7 minutes.

- Add all whole garlic cloves and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until carrot is cooked, juices evaporated and meat just starts to brown.  It will take about 10 minutes. Turn heat down if it starts to burn on a bottom. 

- Add rice, orange juice, orange zest, water, salt and pepper. Stir a few times. Cover tightly with a lid. Turn heat to a lowest possible setting and let it cook for 15 minutes. Do not open a lid!

- Turn of the heat and let pot sit on a stove for 15 more minutes without opening a lid.

- Now open a lid, stir once, serve with a fresh herbs on top or chopped green onion. Enjoy!



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In Pictures

This time I'm experimenting - using multicolored carrots (yellow, dark-red and regular). Not impressed. Use regular carrots, they are the best. 

I always use whole garlic cloves for pilaf. In this case, while giving away its aroma to a whole dish, garlic cloves can still be enjoyed as small soft bits of pure flavor. Sometimes I don't even peel them, as I was taught to cook Kirgizian pilaf. Then, it keeps roasted garlic aroma even better - you eat those, picking from a plate, squeezing awesome roasted garlic flesh with your teeth :)

It seems like whole pot is taken over by carrots. No worry, in a minute, it will cook down significantly.

I always use whatever rice I have on hands. This time it was basmati rice. Often it's jasmine rice. Although the best would be short-grained rice similar to arborio.

Done!

Indian Mango Rice

You can't beat the convenience of all-in-one dish, right? That's why I love Indian fried rice, its delicious and flavorful combinations, especially beloved by vegans as it contains all plant-based nutrition your body needs. Let's try Mango Rice.

Blog's Category: Healthy, Indian, International, Vegetarian

Intro

I can proudly tell, that I'm not a newcomer in a world of Indian cooking and already made various Indian dishes, including rice dishes of course. This time it's mango rice just because I come across terribly green mango at my last shopping trip to grocery store. It is exactly what recipe for Mango Rice calls for!

As an extra bonus, please note in this recipe how a rice is cooked. I love this method because it doesn't require precise measurements nevertheless giving perfect rice every time! This method (see below) especially great for a fried rice when it is so convenient to use pre-cooked rice. Also this rice is a great way to cook rice as a make-ahead side dish and keeps in a fridge for up to two weeks.


What is it?

Indian Mango Rice is type of fried rice - pre-cooked rice, fried with some flavorful Indian spices, fresh green mango, some lentils and peanuts as your proteins.

Taste Description

For good or bad, but mango is barely recognizable in this recipe. Although it gives some subtle fruity undertone to the whole dish. My favorite part - peanuts and crunchy bits of lentils. Overall, it's pretty mild but beautifully aromatic dish.

How to Serve

Serve hot or warm as a main vegetarian course, or as a side to a grilled meat or fish. It will keep in your fridge for up to one week.


Side Notes

- If you would like to make a bigger batch, do not forget, along with a rice amount, to increase the amount of mango and cooking oil. Otherwise you are risking to end up with a dry rice - this dish tend to become dry if ratios are off.

- Other than ratio mango/rice/oil, this recipe is very adaptable and forgiving. Don't let absence of one of the ingredients to stop you from cooking this mango rice. That's a beauty of Indian recipes - numerous ingredients, mostly spices, allows you to skip on one or two of them ;)

Indian Mango Rice

For about 6 servings:

• 2 c rice (prefereably basmati rice) 
• 1 underriped (green) mango, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 c raw peanuts (preferably spanish, skin-on)
• 2 tbs chana dal
• 2 tbs urad dal
• 2 tbs mustard seeds
• 2 small dry red chili peppers
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
• salt to taste
• 6 tbs olive oil
• 12 fresh curry leaves (optional, but highly recommended)
• 3 small fresh green chili peppers (or 1/2 tsp cayenne powder) - omit altogether if you don't like it spicy

- Make sure your ingredients are prepared according ingredient list above.

- In a large pot, bring about 3 liters of water to a boil. Pour dry rice in a boiling water and cook exactly 8 minutes. Drain, set aside. Your rice is precooked and in a perfect condition to be used in fried rice recipes or kept in a fridge for a handy ready-to-eat side (just add butter or olive oil and some seasoning).

- In a frying pan, on a medium heat, heat half of your oil (3 tbs) and cook peanuts until they start to get some color. Then add chana and urad dal, mustard seeds, dry red chili pepper, green chili pepper and curry leaves. Cook at medium-low heat until curry leaves dry out and urad dal becomes beige. Transfer to a plate.

- Using the same frying pan, add olive oil and cook grated mango for one minute. Add turmeric, ginger and some salt. Add one cup of water and cook, stirring for 2 more minutes. Add pre-cooked rice and nut/dal mix. Cook stirring for one minute. Adjust salt if needed. Take off heat. Your mango rice is beautiful and ready for you, enjoy!



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IN PICTURES

With this method of cooking rice, no need to rinse a rice because it is cooked in a disproportionally large amount of water. Don't forget to set timer to 8 minutes.

Stir a couple of times during cooking just to break a mass of rice in a bottom.

Drain. Rinse with a cold water if you wish.

My favorite leaf-spice ever - curry leaves (upper right corner), Knocking-out flavor ever IMHO :)

Peanuts are half-cooked - time to add dals, mustard seeds, peppers and curry leaves.

Despite the fact  that I put two dry red chilies, three green ones with a long cut along to length to release some heat out, my rice was very mildly spiced. So, if you are like me, and like heat in your food, add some more peppers or add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper.

I admit, I used child labor for mango grating :)))

As usual, I keep my ginger in a freezer. This way it's always fresh and ready to be grated (no peeling!) into fine airy substance.

Green mango flesh is pale-yellow.

This is where from awesome yellow color of my Mango Rice has come.

If you frying pan large enough, mix all ingredients together right there, continuing to cook them for about one minute. If not, as happened to me, just transfer all, rice, cooked mango and cooked dal mix, in a large bowl. And be done with it. Enjoy!

I love to chew on curry leaves as they come to my spoon :)