One-Pot Mujadara With Leeks and Greens

I grew up w/ Lebanese grandparents nearby & this was 1 of our staples. It's a complete protein too. I also often use bulgur wheat instead of rice, & have never used anything but yellow onions cooked dark brown in oil. Some saved for the top. It's meant to be eaten at room temp, after a few hrs on counter, & is often better next day. We had a gr. salad w/ oil & lem. dressing, & lots of my g'ma's homemade "Syrian" bread, as she called it. So good

Swap out the rice for bulgar wheat and I find that the texture of the dish is far superior.

This is a staple dish from my husband's side of the family, but we brown onions not leeks, and do it separately. Therefore we use much less oil for the mujadara itself. My family seasons it as they like at the table, using the onions, Greek yogurt, and/or Siracha Melissa-style.

Please be careful where you source your brown rice. Many brands, especially those from TX were shown by Consumers' reports to have high arsenic levels, a holdover from cotton farms. Always rinse your rice several times before cooking.

I'm Lebanese and Armenian and have been making this for years. I cook the rice and lentils in chicken broth. When they're done I let them sit for about 10 minutes. Then I add fresh or frozen spinach, fresh minced garlic, feta cheese and kalamata olives (pitted and quartered). I finish it off by squeezing the juice of a lemon over it--depending on the size of the lemon.

You need to preheat your pan, then pour in the oil; wait until it begins to shimmer; put a few slivers of leek in. If they immediately begin to sizzle, add the rest. If your oil is not hot enough you are going to soak it all up with the leeks, creating a greasy mess. If the leeks brown too quickly, lower the heat. Be sure to turn frequently, shaking the pan to distribute leeks evenly. I used one huge leek in an 11" steel skillet. Also, be sure leeks are dry before frying. It took 15 min.

I have made this recipe several times, but today's variation was the best. We didn't have greens, so I used cauliflower and sautéed cherry tomatoes instead. Squeezed juice from half lemon on at end. Most importantly, simmered lentils for five minutes without rice, then added basmati rice! In the past, the rice had always gotten mushy before the lentils were done.

I also had trouble w/ the leeks. Not so crispy - more like soggy. I spread them on an baking sheet and put them under the broiler on low which helped quite a bit.

Typically bright and spicy. Two things; just like Melissa's broccoli salad with the cumin seeds which I've made 5 times always not quite as good as the first time it would be helpful to have an empirical amount of these vegetables; broccoli in the former, leeks in the latter, to have a consistent outcome every time. "Two" pounds of broccoli and "two" leeks can vary wildly depending on where you shop. My two were big and ended up steaming rather than being crispy. How many CUPS of sliced leeks?

My husband grew up eating this dish. They use onions instead of leeks and usually serve it with a salad of tomatoes and onions dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic. A dollop of yogurt on top and you've got a fantastic meal

I just made this dish for 40 guests..Check the Jerusalem cookbook for another take on the crispy onions etc Ottelenghi dredges them in flour before frying ( afterwards you have delicious onion flavored oil to use)

Also, we used the rice instead of the bulgur wheat and that was great too. I still think the bulgur wheat was better, Rebecca agrees, as bulgur wheat is a newer texture for people. Even so, the rice was fantastic.
Again, we added the red wine vinegar at the end and more salt. Also, what we realized on the first night, and the following nights after that, was that the leeks really take much longer and need their own pan to get crispy.
That's all the notes for now...

I simplified: skipped the leeks entirely, substituted for onions. Didn't do the fried garnish thing. Instead I just sauteed minced onion & garlic, and that all went into the pot with the rice and lentils. I made this in an instant pot: sauteed the onions & garlic on the sautee function, then added water & all the other ingredients and cooked on high pressure for 15 minutes. Slow release of 10 mins. I plan to serve this with some fried eggs.

Soaking the lentils should reduce the cooking time. This is a staple in my family, and when I make it I cook the lentils for 20 minutes prior to adding the rice. I do the onions in a separate pan, add the rice as described, then add all of that to the cooking lentils for the last 20ish minutes. Watch the water level. You want it to be a little mushy and a little dry, with the lentils soft.

1/2019. Used one large white onion, with cooks illustrated suggestion to toss with salt, let stand, squeeze h2o, and fry in less oil. Used chicken broth instead of water. Used twice as much kale. Added diced calamata olives, drizzled greens with lemon juice, served with crumbled feta and a dollop on plain yogurt. Avoided any additional salt until serving. Probably can add a little to rice and green lentils, which were cooked together.