WHB: Brown Rice, Turkey, Vegetable, And Arugula Jumble

Everyone must have a favorite recipe that tastes good, but lacks a certain...sexiness.  The ingredients may not make everyone's heart race, and it would probably be overlooked if placed next to a more picturesque dish made with scallops or filet mignon.  But, sometimes a person feels a need for comfort.  This is one of those dishes for me.  Looking at the above picture, I see that it resembles a version of Hamburger Helper, with arugula on top.  Almost as easy to fix as a boxed meal, this dish always satisfies me and uses up my veggie odds and ends in the fridge.  If you play it right, it will supply you with most of the FDA's daily recommendation for vegetables. 

The arugula adds a peppery taste to this dish, making it very interesting. I admit to being a huge fan of arugula, which is also known as rocket.  It's the main reason that I often crave this dish.  But, if you don't like it, substitute spinach or parsley.  A dish with such a large amount of this delicious herb makes it perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by the wonderful Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen .  WHB is being hosted this week by Erin at The Skinny Gourmet.  Do visit her site to see all the dishes prepared by herby bloggers from all around the world.  Erin should have a re-cap of all the marvelous recipes by Monday.


Brown Rice, Turkey, Vegetable, and Arugula Jumble

This can be doubled very easily.  And use whatever vegetables or herbs that you like.  This is the way I made it.

1 cup long grain brown rice (or use short grain--your choice)

2 cups stock (whatever you like--vegetable or chicken)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

About 1/2 pound ground turkey

About 1 cup total of finely chopped vegetables of your choice.  Chop them the way you like. I used carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and red bell pepper. 

herb of your choice--I used thyme

a squirt of  sriracha

salt and pepper

Lots of Arugula. I used about 4 cups coarsely chopped. You could use parsley or another leafy herb or greens

Preparation:

Pour the stock into a heavy pot, bring to a boil and add the rice.  Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice until it has absorbed the stock--about 40 minutes. 

While the rice cooks, chop the vegetables and garlic, and thyme and add it to a heavy skillet that has been heated over medium high heat, with the oil added.  Saute until the vegetables have softened slightly, about 2 minutes. I like to leave mine slightly crunchy. Add the turkey and cook until it no longer shows signs of red.   When the veggie turkey mixture is done, add the arugula and sriracha to the skillet and toss for about 30 seconds so the arugula starts to wilt.  Season with the salt and pepper and set aside.

When the rice is done, add the vegetables turkey mixture to the rice and toss well.  Taste for seasoning and serve immediately

Comments

[Kalyn]

Yes, I would love it too, mostly for the arugula, but all the ingredients together sound great too! True comfort food!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Well, you somehow make it look sexy to me. I love a dish like this one. Beautiful photo.

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

My favorite dishes are always the one-pot wonders that don't look the least bit sexy. I think yours looks delicious! I'm really into spinach these days (it's the only dark leafy green I really love), so I'd probably make that substitution. And a bit more hot sauce....!

[Erin @ The Skinny Gourmet]

Looks delicious! Indeed a great way to use up all those vegetables. I wouldnt have thought to add arugula, but I bet it adds a great flavor and texture to the dish.

[Zipporah]

Sounds like a great use for the arugula that came in the CSA box this week. I'm tryin' it out. Thanks!

[Callipygia]

This is exactly what my food looks like most days, or maybe by the end of the week as one item creeps into the other. Personally I rarely eat food porn meals (too much information)?

[Mer]

Yum! Why haven't I ever eaten something like this. Move over, Rice-a-roni... we will be trying something different. :0)

Thanks for sharing!

[Claire]

Let me tell you...this looks NOTHING like hamburger helper! HH looks like hospital food and this does NOT! As little of a rice fan as I am, this actually looks really good. May have to try it sometime soon! :-) MMMM!

[ariaa]

ooooh yah jumble it up! yummy.

oh i love me some natalie, did u hear what she done did? aaack!

[sammawow]

Wow, this sounds great - I love arugula, and pretty much all of the other ingredients too!

[Sashi]

Thanks for a great idea on what to do with all that Costco ground turkey!! In Brazil, they make a similar jumbled dish with rice called mexido. It means "mixed". They even have restaurants who specialize in this type of food.

[Glenna]

Mmmm...yum! I really like one pot meals. For just the two of us, it's such a great solution to solution to the meat/potato/veggie dinner.

[Deb]

What a great combination and what caught my interest is the addition of the sriracha, of yum! I like the one dish meal thing!

[Jenna]

Query... and I receive. Heavens, I love the internet.

One moment finds me staring into a fridge wondering what I'll make for dinner tomorrow, there's the package of ground turkey to use, a full bag of spinach, some brown rice I need to cook so I can pour the new bag into the crock, and why yes! Hiding behind the roasted garlic and the jarred fresh ginger there happens to be lurking a familier bottle with a rooster on the side.

Thanks for yet again getting me out of the crunch when it comes time for dinner.

[shelley]

Yet another fan of the mish-mashed one-pot meals! So many glorious things, and what a great use of leftovers, too.

[katie]

Brown rice helper...
Arugula helper...
Whatever; looks delish!