Savoury Rice

Savoury Rice with lentils, mushrooms and onions.

Wotchers!

What a treat I have for you this week! I don’t think I’ve published a recipe that fits into quite so many categories before!

It’s simple to prepare. It’s versatile. It’s Vegetarian. It’s Vegan. It’s Dairy-free. It’s Gluten-free. It can be a main meal or a side dish. You can eat it hot or cold. It freezes well and reheats well in the microwave. It’s budget-friendly, calorie friendly and almost infinitely customizable.

It’s a taste sensation!

It’s a regular inhabitant of my fridge because with the addition of just a few items it can transform into what tastes like a completely different dish.

Confession Time: it’s actually a riff on that wonderfully flavourful dish from the Middle East, Mujaddara, and essentially differs only by the tweaks of adding mushrooms, and vegetable stock as a cooking liquid. Apart from tasting great, a big attraction of Mujaddara is that it is assembled, rather than created as a single dish: cook the rice, cook the lentils, cook the onions, cook the mushrooms, stir together. I like many a rice-and-bean dish, but find it overly stressful (or maybe that’s just me) trying to coordinate between the beans being sufficiently cooked through without having the rice go mushy.

The addition of mushrooms brings this Savoury Rice to a whole new level. Of course, caramelised onions and mushrooms are a classic pairing, but with the background flavours of the rice and the lentils, it is ridiculously tasty – honestly, far more flavourful than any 4 ingredient dish has a right to!

There’s a catch, of course, because the condiments of vegetable oil, salt, pepper and vegetable stock push the ingredients list to a whopping eight items, but even so, a real bargain in terms of simplicity vs taste.

Lets talk about versatility in the four main ingredients:

• Rice – Brown Basmati rice is my number one choice, due to the almost foolproof method of prep (none) and cooking (20 minute boil, no rinsing, no soaking). You can, of course, use any rice you have to hand/want to use up, and because it’s cooked by itself, there’s no worry in having to juggle it with the cooking times of another ingredient.
• Lentils – since my discovery that my favourite Kali Dal is best made with black beans, I now have all these black lentils to hand in the cupboard, looking to be used. They hold their shape well and are a great colour contrast against the rice and vegetables. Other lentils (brown, green, puy, yellow) can be used freely with the exception, in my opinion, of red lentils, which tend to break down rather too easily for this dish.
• Mushrooms: My favourite mushroom is the chestnut mushroom (crimini) because, when sliced, it reveals the classic mushroom shape. In addition, the juices released are light brown, and not the deep black of Portobello mushrooms that would discolour the other ingredients. Chestnut mushrooms have great texture, contrasting well against the rice and onions. Feel free to use any mushrooms you like. Incidentally, don’t be sleeping on the calorific value of mushrooms – while I was calculating how many calories the finished dish contained, I had to do a double-take when reading the nutritional information on the mushroom packaging – because they have a mere EIGHT CALORIES per 100g! Amazing!
• Onions: These are cooked until browned, but not crispy. I’ve tried red onions, but find them a little too sweet for this dish. Regular brown onions are deliciously savoury and, let’s be fair, do a lot of heavy lifting in making this recipe such a success. Other options, depending on availability (especially if it’s a bargain reduced-for-quick-sale) could be shallots, pink or white onions, spring onions or leeks.

I can very happily enjoy this dish as a main meal, thanks to the protein-packed lentils, but it is also great as a side dish. The real joy, however, is transforming it into a myriad of variations by just by adding any bits and bobs that need using up.

Savoury Rice with Vegetables from a previous meal are one of the simplest changes you can make (see photo above). Cut them small, to match the size of the mushroom pieces, and mix in with the rice before heating through. To maximise the visual appeal, I recommend you take the time to carefully trim the vegetables down. Mini broccoli and cauliflower florets are especially cute.

However my most favourite adapted form for Savoury Rice is the Hot Cold Salad. A little thing of my own invention. You’re welcome. While your Savoury Rice is reheating, dice up some chilled salad vegetables: mini plum tomatoes, celery, cucumber, etc., and then stir them into the hot Savoury Rice. The contrast between the hot, earthy flavours of the rice mixture, against the cool, freshness and crunch of the salad vegetables, is something I find especially delicious. You can also add to the protein in the dish by dicing up come cheese or cold meat or fish. Not needed by any means, but definitely tasty! I also like making this salad version with Noodles and Rice.

Savoury Rice

The quantities below make a large amount. Personally, I freeze half and keep half in the fridge for almost daily use. Feel free to halve the recipe – but it’s not my fault if you’re making it again in 3 days because you’ve scoffed it all.

I like to mix everything together in order to have it ready at a moment’s notice, but you can also keep everything in separate boxes and mix it ‘to order’ as needed.

If you mix everything together, by my calculations [1], 250g will contain just 300 calories.

2tbs vegetable oil
500g onions
500g chestnut mushrooms – the smaller ones look prettier when sliced
400g brown Basmati rice
400g black lentils
2tsp salt – divided
1-2tsp coarse ground black pepper

Vegetable stock (optional)

• Chop the onions and slice the mushrooms.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
• Add the onions and sprinkle with 1tsp salt. As well as seasoning the onions, the salt will help draw out the moisture, allowing them to brown more easily.
• Cook the onions over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and browned. Just how browned you take them is up to you. This will take about 20-30 minutes.
• When the onions are cooked to your liking, add in the mushrooms and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt. Fold the mushrooms through the onions to coat with the oil, and cook until softened and the moisture evaporated.
• Season the onion/mushroom mixture generously with pepper. The mixture will taste over-seasoned at this stage, but as this is the only seasoning in the dish, by the time the rice and lentils are added, it will be fine. If you’re planning to cook your lentils and rice in vegetable stock, then use a little less salt at this stage – you can always add more later.  Set the onion mixture aside.
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add vegetable stock cubes/bouillon to the water if liked.
• Add the brown rice and cook for 20 minutes.
• Drain the rice and set aside.
• Add the lentils to a large pan and cover well with water. Add vegetable stock cubes/bouillon to the water if liked.
• Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until tender – 20-25 minutes.
• Drain the lentils and set aside.
• If your frying pan is large enough, add the rice and lentils to the mushroom/onion mixture and stir to combine. Otherwise, mix all Savoury Rice components together in a large bowl.
• Portion out your Savoury Rice and freeze or store in the fridge until required.

[1] Please feel free to correct me on this. I based my calculations on the following:

• onion/mushroom/oil mixture: 200 calories + 40 calories + 240 calories, cooked weight 600g.
• cooked rice: 1450 calories, cooked weight 1kg.
• cooked lentils: 1400 calories, cooked weight 1kg.