“This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb, has a story to tell. It has a journey. It leaves a footprint. It leaves a legacy. To eat with reckless abandon, without conscience, without knowledge; folks, this ain’t normal.” – Joel Salatin

     Typically, I'm not really into leftovers. Sorry. I have to pretend I'm in the Chopped kitchen just to get through the revamping process. The only time I don't mind doing this is when all of your ingredients actually make a cohesive or even familiar dish. Food diaspora has always been so interesting to me; different cultures having a variant of the same dish across oceans is just rad. That's what happened when I had leftover rice flavored with cilantro. I was just going to eat it with an egg (#putaneggonit), but decided it deserved better. The dish Mujadara came to mind. It's just rice, lentils, fried onions, and parsley. The dish actually began in India (and actually made it all the way to Africa) but is mainly considered Middle Eastern by modern standards. To riff on this recipe even more, I mixed the ingredients together and fried them like falafel, served with flat bread and vegetables. Remember, cooking is fluid, just go with it.

Mujadara Fritters

    This recipe, like so many of mine, is very quick and relatively easy. To start, soak the lentils in water for 6 hours to overnight. Discard water and pulse lentils in a food processor until they resemble coarse sand. Next, mix the lentils, egg, seasonings, and breadcrumbs together with the rice (day-old rice will fry better since it is dryer). Form into flat patties and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan and fry patties on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper and season with extra salt. I served mine with flat bread, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, strained yogurt, and hot sauce. Feel free to switch it up.

Recipe

1 c green lentils

2 1/2 c rice

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika 

1 tsp garlic powder 

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp coriander 

1 egg

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste 

oil for frying