Side Dish or Main Dish Recipe Ideas Quick & Easy Dirty Rice

Side Dish Confession (Recipe: Quick and Dirty Rice)

I have a confession to make. Let me tell ‘ya…if I didn’t get kicked out of the food blogging world for the post about blogging success that I wrote yesterday, I’m sure this revelation will be what does it. I have a very, very difficult time with side dishes for our family dinners. In fact, Knorr, Uncle Ben, Betty Crocker…if we are going to have a side in addition to fresh fruit, veggies and salad or some kind of potato, it comes from them. Flavored noodles, rice mixes, etc. from those little packages are sometimes what saves my dinners when I need a little more substance on the table.

Then, to make things more confusing, I come across this recipe for Dirty Rice over on one of my favorite blogs, Karen Bove’s Our Life in the Kitchen. Dirty rice is like a side dish, but it has the meat in it, so is it a side dish or a main course or what? I’m so confused!

We used it as a main dish and served it with a salad and fresh fruit. I also set out some tortillas on the table, which I am pretty sure is not what dirty rice was intended for, but it made for some really tasty tortilla filling!

If you feel like taking pity on me and giving me some good ideas for side dishes with dinner, I’d certainly appreciate it. Otherwise, you can find me over on ousted food bloggers island. I’ll be the one with the boxed mixes.

Recipe: Quick and Dirty Rice (Adapted from Karen Bove’s Our Life in the Kitchen)

1 pound Ground Beef

1 Yellow Onion

2 Ribs celery, sliced

1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can Bush’s Black Beans

3 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1 teaspoon Thyme

2 Bay Leaves

2 cups Rice

5 cups Beef Stock

Heat a stock pot over medium-high heat and add the beef. Cook it, until brown.
Stir in the vegetables and cook until tender.
Stir in the creole seasoning, thyme and bay leaves.
Add the black beans then stir in the rice.
Add the broth and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook undisturbed until the rice is done, about 25 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!

Comments

zerrin says:

October 17, 2010 at 12:04 pm

This rice looks absolutely so appealing! I can eat a big bowl full of this no matter it is a main or side dish. I love that you used beef stock instead of water, it gives a perfect flavor to rice. As a side dish, I generally make pilaf with rice or bulgur(pounded wheat) with various ingredients. And this dirty rice will be a great change for me.

Stephanie {Clockwork Lemon} says:

October 17, 2010 at 7:41 pm

I have a terrible time with side dishes too!! I’m fine if its salad or potatoes, but when it comes to rice and interesting veggies I usually draw a blank.

marla {family fresh cooking} says:

October 18, 2010 at 6:31 am

I would go with full meal here too because of all that great protein. This is the perfect lunch or dinner. LOVE that you were all sassy in your BlogHer post, that is why I dig you xo

Barbara says:

October 19, 2010 at 9:19 am

You’re not kicked out, kiddo…don’t worry.
LOVE dirty rice…any kind!

Amy Kempf says:

October 19, 2010 at 11:48 am

Hmmm that looks really good!
Side dishes are hard! I do good to get a veggie on the table!

Deborah says:

October 20, 2010 at 1:06 pm

I totally struggle with side dishes. Almost every night. And yes, I too have many packaged ideas in the cupboards. (and I rely on frozen veggies a lot!) This rice sounds amazing, though – I’m pretty sure I could eat it as the main dish!

Madelene Dae says:

November 29, 2010 at 7:17 am

Thanks for that , useful stuff. I get bored of plain rice recipes but I’m not very skilled in the kitchen. There’s a lot of easy ideas at this rice recipes homepage I found that your readers might like too.