Recipe

Roasted Meat Tomato And Rice Casserole Recipe

	Heatherbudapest / All my dishes 1 year ago This is a real 'fusion' dish, something I threw together when I found myself with a giant platter of delicious leftover shwarma and assorted meats from a local Arabic restaurant. It's based somewhat on a Maklouba recipe I found online, but I made man... More Prep:30m Cook:180m Servings:8	Heatherbuda
	leftovers meat rice vegetables casserole summer hearty vegetarianoption

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Ingredients

Leftovers:

roasted or grilled meats, about two cups or so, minced

rice pilaf or steamed rice (I used a mix of white rice pilaf with almonds and steamed brown rice), about 3 cups

vegetables:

4-5 fresh zucchini, coarsely chopped

1 large eggplant, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

seasonings:

5 large ripe tomatoes (or one can of tomato sauce)

dried cherries, about 2 tablespoons, chopped

Moroccan dry oil-cured olives, generous handful, coarsely chopped (optional; please don't substitute canned black olives or Kalamatas; they won't be as good. If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, they carry pitted Moroccan olives.)

pinenuts, about 3 tablespoons, lightly toasted

pinch of fresh (or dried) oregano, chopped

generous pinch of cumin (best if freshly ground)

generous handful of fresh Italian parsley, chopped

pinch of saffron, soaked in approx. 1 Tablespoon boiling water

fresh-ground black pepper to taste

sea salt to taste

generous amount of olive oil

Directions

Begin by making a simple tomato sauce. Wash, core, and quarter tomatoes, and put into a saucepan on medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until enough water has evaporated that it looks like a tomato sauce (probably about 30 minutes or so).

Meanwhile, put your eggplant into the bottom of a large Pyrex baking dish and sprinkle generously with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Broil, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is starting to get soft. Add the zucchini and onion, some more olive oil, more salt and pepper, and the oregano, and continue to broil until all the vegetables are getting fairly soft and a bit browned.

In a large bowl (actually, I just used the big aluminum tray the leftovers came home in), mix the rice and minced meat. I used a mixture of lamb, beef, and chicken; don't be afraid to mix it up. I included onions and carrots that came with the meat, as well, chopped. Add tomato sauce, dried cherries, Moroccan olives, toasted pinenuts, cumin, parsley, saffron+water, some more olive oil, and more salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Mix together the rice mixture with the vegetables, place together in the baking dish, and spread mixture evenly into the dish. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the casserole is hot. I think it took about 30-45 minutes if I remember right, but I was out in the garden weeding my herbs, so I'm not 100% sure. If the top starts to look like it's going to dry out too much, put some foil on top.

I served the dish as a main course, with small plates of cucumber salad, feta cheese, hoummous, and pita to accompany it.

Final note: Although I originally conceived of this recipe as a way to use up leftover meat, and I think the meat adds a lot of flavor to the dish, I think it would still be a delicious and flavorful dish for vegetarians with the meat omitted. You might try adding grilled tempeh or marinated cooked chickpeas to add additional protein.

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Comments

shirleyoma 1 year ago said:
Oh wow.. the ingredients are so many and my favorite! This is enough for a party, sounds good to me!

heatherbudapest 10 months, 4 weeks ago said:
I just finally started defrosting and eating the little lunch portions I reserved and froze for later enjoyment over a month ago. I wanted to add a note that this is delicious reheated!! With some baby carrots and snap peas, almonds, a couple little apples, and a granola bar, what a completely awesome lunch . . . :)

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