Total Time: 35 minutes Serves: 6-8
Recipe By: Melissa Clark
Cookbooks will tell you that, in the Middle East, mujadara is the essence of comfort food, a humble dish made from pantry staples. To that I will add how easy it is to make. The only part that needs some attention is the frying of the onions (or in this case, leeks). To get them crisp, you have to cook them until they are deeply brown and darker than you might be comfortable with. But without the deep color, you don’t get the crunch. Just make sure to take them off the heat before they burn. You want the majority to be mahogany, not black (though a few black strands would be O.K.).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown or green lentils
- 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, roots trimmed
- 2¼ tsp salt, more as needed
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ cup long-grain rice
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cups trimmed and chopped greens (spinach, kale, mustard or a combination)
Directions:
- Place lentils in a large bowl and add warm tap water to cover by 1 inch. Let soak.
- Meanwhile, halve leeks lengthwise; run under warm water to release any grit. Thinly slice leeks crosswise.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crispy, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer half the leeks to a bowl to use for garnish and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Stir garlic into the pot with the remaining leeks and cook for 15 seconds until fragrant. Stir in rice and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in cumin, allspice and cayenne; sauté 30 seconds.
- Drain lentils and stir into pot. Add 4¼ cups water, 2 teaspoons salt, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Rinse greens in a colander and spread damp leaves over lentil mixture. Cover and cook 5 minutes more, until rice and lentils are tender and greens are wilted. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with reserved crispy leeks.