I’ll never forget the first time I had Dirty Rice because it was also the first time I ever met my sister in law. It was my 4th date with my now hubby, Jacob, and he invited me to his sister’s house to meet her; she was going to make dinner for us. Holy moly, was I nervous. Jacob told me his sister was a no BS kinda girl and she was also the best cook ever so the pressure was on. As soon as we walked in the house she gave me the biggest hug and handed me a giant glass of wine.  Immediately, I knew we were going to be great friends! The rest of the night was full of laughter like we had all known each other forever. She cooked up this yummy, spicy, rice dish and I helped myself to 2 (or maybe 3) servings because I don’t play coy when it comes to good food. And that food was SO good! I was still too shy to ask her how she made it but I’ll never forget how much I loved it. When we said goodbye she gave me another warm & giant hug and I knew we were going to be sisters forever.

So, I finally attempted to recreate that Dirty Rice and I added a sneaky little healthy ingredient… Zucchini! But dont worry, it’s shredded and mixed in so all it does is add tons of moisture and loads of nutrients. Hubby didn’t even know it was in there and hubby does NOT like zucchini.

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Let’s get dirty! All you need is 2 pots and 1 hour!

Ingredients:

2 Field Roast spicy chorizo sausages (or any other spicy soyrizo)
1 large green bell pepper
1 small red onion
1 can red kidney beans
1 large zucchini (shredded)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup brown rice
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1+ cup water

Seasonings: smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, dry sweet basil, bay leaf, turmeric, sea salt & pepper to taste*

Cilantro or flat leaf parsley to garnish*
1. Chop onions and roughly chop soyrizo. The more uneven the better in my opinion. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and throw these in to start sauteing.

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2. Chop green bell pepper and add to the large pot.

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3. Secret Ingredient Time!! Shred up your large zucchini using a cheese grater (I knew that would come in handy again someday.) Throw your zucchini into the pot and get it mixed well.

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4. Add some seasoning now. A little bit of everything. A whole lotta dry basil. Add the beans. You can also add some tomato paste here for extra flavor. Stir and remove from heat.

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5. In another pot bring 1 cup brown rice + 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth to a boil. Add sea salt & pepper to taste. Bring down to a simmer and let it cook through until the liquid is almost all gone.

6. Once your rice is 80% of the way cooked (that means its still a little too hard to eat but almost ready) throw it into the large pot with all the other ingredients.

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7. Add 1 cup or more water and more seasonings. Bring heat back up to low and cover until all the liquid is gone. This will help marry all the flavors and get the beans cooked through. Here is where you can add your bay leaf. You can stir occasionally or just let it sit. I stir because I’m impatient.

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8. Remove lid and give it one more taste. I added tons more seasoning here because my sister in law’s rice packed a punch and I wanted this one to resemble that flavor bomb.

9. Garnish with Cilantro & used Bay Leaf, or not,  and Enjoy it Veganly Much!

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Originally Posted on: September 2, 2015