Description
A classic Cajun dish remade vegan through the richness of caramelized onions, fried garlic, and chestnuts.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- salt
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 cloves sliced garlic
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup light cooking oil, such as coconut or grapeseed
- 2 1/2 cups onions, diced (I used sweet red onions)
- 1 1/4 cup roasted chestnuts, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2/3 cup vegetable broth
- 1 big handful of parsley (about half a bunch), loosely chopped
- juice of 1 medium lemon
Instructions
- Rinse your Basmati rice until the water runs clear. This gets rid of any excess starch that will make your rice stick together and smell a little funky when cooked.
- Cook your rice, as directed, on the stovetop, in a rice cooker, or in an Instant Pot (I chose the latter). Regardless of how you cook it, make sure to add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the rice.
- When the rice is done cooking, remove from the pot and place in a covered bowl to keep warm and moist.
- Next, heat a small frying pan over medium. When hot, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and let heat. The oil is ready when a piece of garlic, dropped into the oil, immediately starts to bubble. Add the SLICED garlic and fry until golden. Make sure you watch the pan and take out the garlic as it turns golden. When the garlic is removed, reserve the oil in a small bowl.
- Next, heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add the butter or coconut oil and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the diced onions and minced garlic. Cook this mixture for 10-12 minutes keeping a close eye on the onions to make sure they don’t burn. If you need to, turn the pan down to medium to maintain an even caramelization.
- Add the chestnuts, Creole seasoning, smoked paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and continue cooking the mixture, stirring constantly, for 7 minutes. Don’t cut corners here–the longer you cook it, the more the spices will roast, giving you a nice even flavor.
- Next, add the rice, turn the heat up to high, and stir constantly until the rice begins to crisp, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and cook on high for another 2 minutes–no stirring allowed!
- Remove the mixture from the pan and into a bowl. Add the parsley, the lemon juice, the reserved garlic oil, the crispy fried garlic, and stir.
- You made it! Nice work.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Flavor.
Keywords: dirty rice, Cajun rice, rice dressing, onions, garlic, sauté, dinner, vegetarian, vegan, flavor