Puerto Rican Dirty Rice

Who doesn’t love some dirty rice?

Dirty rice is usually associated with Cajun food. But, I always like to put my own spin on things.

Dirty rice is easy to make and great when you have leftovers. Have some leftover rice? Some leftover meat? Add some veggies and few spices and you can make an awesome bowl of yumminess that stores well, reheats like a champ and is super portable.

One thing that I cook up most weeks is grass fed ground beef with onions. I usually just salt and pepper it, then I can use it during the week to get in some extra protein by adding it to a bowl of veggies or making a quick soup. It’s so easy to measure out for your weekly meal prep. I like to pack a quarter of a sweet potato and raw broccoli in my reusable food prep containers. Then, when I reheat everything, the broccoli cooks just enough and I have a quick well balanced lunch. If I have leftovers, like rice, I can throw together something like this fried rice and it comes together in no time since the meat and the rice are already cooked.

When I made this fried rice, I just happened to have some left over peppers from my chili verde. One of my best friends is a five-foot-nothing, spicy, Puerto Rican badass. She has made her own version of this and brought it to a few of our get togethers. Hers is different, I’m not exactly sure how she makes it. Hers is Puerto Rican for real.  But as I looked at some of the stuff in my fridge, this spicy rice and bean dish came to mind. So, I decided to put my own twist on it and viola! Puerto Rican Dirty Rice was born.

It’s as easy as sautéing all the veggies in a large skillet

Then, just add the rest of the ingredients and toss it together

Puerto Rican Dirty Rice

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Rice

Servings: 10

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Ingredients

Mirepoix (flavor bomb)

• 2 tsp oil
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 pasilla peppers diced
• 2 jalepeno peppers diced
• 3 cloves garlic finely minced

The Basics

• 3 cups cooked long grain rice from leftovers
• 2 cups browned ground beef from leftovers
• 1 can small red beans drained
• ½ cup stock
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 ½ tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste. I prefer coconut oil

Remove From Heat and Add In

• tomatoes
• ¼ cup green onions
• ¼ cup parsley

Instructions

1. Start with cooked rice and browned ground beef. If you don't have these in the fridge already, make these first. 

2. Add oil, celery, peppers and garlic to large pan. Cook over medium high heat until vegetables are fragrant.

3. Add rice, ground beef, beans and onions, oregano, chili powder, and salt and pepper. Mix until well incorporated. 

4. Remove from heat and add tomatoes, green onions and parsley.

5. Have your self a big bowl of yum! 

Recipe Notes

Paleo Adapt It: Use grated cauliflower instead of rice. 

Vegan Adapt It: Leave out the ground beef or use ground meat substitute instead.

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