Forced Hiatus

You may be wondering about my prolonged silence. Well, my kitchen was being tweaked.  Tweak might be an understatement as an entire wall was added. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that I was out of commission for a few weeks while a bunch of workmen closed up a useless pass through, replaced finicky and hard to clean travertine tiles with glass ones and generally made my kitchen more useable while keeping it beautiful.  To keep you going until my next real post, here is a recipe for vegetarian jollof rice.  Jollof rice is a staple of West African cooking and generally includes meat or fish.  I make this version all the time.  What's great about this recipe is that it cooks in the oven and it makes a ton of rice so you can serve a crowd and keep your stove top available for other things.  Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients.  It goes together quickly and when you serve it you will look like a rock star.  If you really want to look fancy, just sprinkle some parsley around the edge of the serving dish.  Or you can use cilantro. Don't over do it, you just want some color.  I'm telling you, people will bow down to you in awe. Dive in and remember my motto:  Just keep cooking it will be delicious! 

Vegetarian Jollof Rice

For the Rice

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 tsp grated ginger
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 or 15 oz size)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 bell pepper sliced
• 1 sweet red pepper sliced (optional)
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1 hot pepper of your choice, chopped (I generally use jalapeño)
• 1/2 can of tomato paste (the small can)
• 200 ml (about 1 cup) tomato juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 cups water
• 1-3 tsp olive oil (as needed)
• 3 cups long grain white rice uncooked

• spice mix

  • 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp mild curry powder
  • 1/4 tsp moringa (I have not found moringa anywhere, so I omitted it)
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 3 bay leaves
  • Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Drizzle oil into a large pan and saute onions over medium heat until golden brown. Go easy on the oil. You don't want greasy rice.
  2. Toss in the ginger and garlic and saute for thirty seconds
  3. Add tomatoes bringing the heat up to high. Cover and cook for five minutes
  4. Add the tomato juice and tomato paste, reduce heat to medium high
  5. Add the spice mix to the pot and mix well. Add the entire pepper for flavor
  6. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced
  7. Add the bell pepper
  8. Rinse the uncooked rice until the water runs clear and add to the pot stirring really well
  9. Add the broth, coconut milk and salt to taste
  10. Reduce heat to medium low and cook covered for 15 minutes stirring occasionally
  11. Remove the bay leaves
  12. Mix in carrots and green peas
  13. Add the water
  14. Transfer everything to a large casserole dish, spread rice in an even layer and cover with foil.
  15. Bake at 375 degrees for 60 minutes
  16. Let cool 10 minutes before serving

Note:  If you want a protein boost you can add some cooked chickpeas.  Canned is fine. You can either replace the green peas or add them as an addition after the rice has cooked.