Jeweled Rice with Crispy Salami Croutons

Latest Obsession

Fair warning, readers!  In the coming months, you’ll come to notice that I have quite the obsession with Adeena Sussman’s cookbook, Sababa. Using her recipes as inspiration, while I drool all over the pages (jk, that’s gross), I adapted her Jeweled Rice recipe for a fun twist on a dish for Purim! Truthfully, I am not paid to endorse her book, I’m just THAT much in love with it!

A New Twist

A few weeks ago, my husband Elliott and I were eating Friday night dinner and catching up on the past week. Occasionally we’ll go down these rabbit-hole conversations and this one was just that. He was helping me brainstorm for a Purim recipe. Now, don’t get me wrong, Hamantashen are great. But we have a good amount of those recipes on MeatYourVegetables, so I thought it was time to do something different.

Elliott made some comment about his love of hanging salamis above our back door and he mentioned something along the lines of “ya know, Haman… hanging… salami.” Ah, here comes the light bulb moment.

It makes so much sense now why serving hassleback salami at a Purim seudah has become a “thing” because Haman was hanged on the gallows. So we put two and two together and decided on “Jeweled” rice, because you know – Queen Esther, royalty, crown, jewels. You get the idea. 🙂 And topped with my ever popular salami croutons – how can this go wrong? And yes, I know, I’m making a dish with MEAT?! Sometimes ya have to switch it up, right?

Household staple

Yes, my salami croutons have become a staple in our house (well, just for Elliott). All I do is dice up some salami (it’s easier to do this with softer salami, but you still can with dried, it’ll just be much harder to peel off the paper and chop) and fry it in a bit of olive oil until they’re SUPER crispy. BOOM- salami croutons. A great way to get my husband to eat salad, HA!

Side note here on the jeweled rice. Just like Adeena’s recipe goes, feel free to use any dried fruit. I opted for apricots because Elliott likes apricots and not much else in the dried fruit category. And I went with sliced almonds because again, he’s very particular and he loves almonds. Adding some pomegranate seeds on top would be a great addition too, for that jeweled look. Or, try dried cranberries, or maybe even sun-dried tomatoes!

So there you have it! A great new twist on a dish that’s perfect for Purim, or any time of year! I’m serving this for our upcoming seudah and for Friday night Shabbos dinner!

Purim Sameach!

0 from 0 votes
Jeweled Rice with Crispy Salami Croutons
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
 
Course: Side
Servings: 4 people
Author: Rachel Katzman
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Basmati or Jasmine Rice If all you have on hand is regular white rice, go ahead and use it. It'll still be delish
  • 1/2 Onion, diced I used red onion for this photo because, well that's all I had in the house and it gives the dish a nice sweetness, so use what you like!
  • 2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp Dried dill I love using fresh dill but dried is so much easier to use since most of us already have it in our pantry. If you use fresh, chop up 1/2 cup
  • 1/2 cup Dried apricots, chopped Again, use whatever dried fruit you like!
  • 1/2 cup Sliced or Slivered almonds
  • 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced I had a meyer lemon on hand and love that bright burst of sweet, tart lemon!
  • 1/4 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup Salami, cut into cubes
  • 5 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
  1. Make the rice: Rinse the rice in a sieve and place in a medium-sized pot or rice cooker. Add 2 cups of water and cook for about 20 minutes until fluffy and tender

  2. While the rice is cooking, in a medium-sized skillet, heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil over medium-heat

  3. Add the onions and and sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt

  4. Make sure to stir frequently so the onions don't burn

  5. Cook for about 20 minutes until the onions are golden and caramelized - remove from pan and set aside to cool

  6. While the rice is cooling, add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil into the pan where the onions cooked and add the salami cubes

  7. Cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes until crispy but be careful not to burn (they cook pretty fast)

  8. Add the semi-cooled rice in a large bowl and add the dill, chopped apricots, remaining salt and pepper, lemon zest and juice and almonds

  9. Add the salami croutons along with the remaining oil from the salami

  10. Mix well and add in pomegranate if desired!

  11. Serve warm or room temp and enjoy!

 

Low Carb Vegan Cornbread

New Inspiration

A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine said to me in passing, “I have some news for you. Oh don’t worry, it’s nothing bad, I just think you’ll find it interesting.” Well, glad she made a mention that this wasn’t anything to worry about, phew! And she was right, I DID find it interesting. She had recently gone vegan (not cold turkey, but at her own pace) and wanted to pick my brain on recipes and ideas for making her cooking life easier. Granted, she’s not low-carb, but making this recipe keto-friendly was an added bonus for me!

And… this is the time in the story where the wheels in my brain start turning furiously. First, I mentioned all of the vegan recipes I had in BOTH of my blogs, Riskyveggie and of course, the vegan recipes here in MYV. Then I suggested the fantastic Megan Gilmore of Detoxinista – WOW does she have a huge repertoire of vegan recipes galore!

The wheels in my brain came to a screeching halt. And born was my Low Carb, (Keto-Friendly), Vegan Cornbread! And don’t worry, it’s still delicious, even without the dairy. Of course eggs are not vegan-friendly so I made a chia egg. It sounds weird, but the texture imitates that of an egg – really! I already had a bag of ground chia seeds (you can use flax seeds too), but if you don’t, I recommend grinding your own. Not that you can’t use chia or flax in your cornbread but it might have a strange texture, so I use ground.

Not Vegan? No Problemo!

The nice thing about this recipe too is that you can totally mix it up to what YOU like! Add in some diced jalapeno for a nice kick, or if you’re not vegan, go ahead and add some shredded cheddar and real eggs too (3 in this case). I love using nutritional yeast in vegan recipes because it gives that cheesy flavor with no dairy but added in Vitamin B6! And for those Keto fans out there, this is a great option for you – with or without the baby corn.

This side dish is a perfect accompaniment to any holiday meal, as an addition to your chili while watching football, or really, any time of year! Even for a picnic, it’s great to serve since it doesn’t require refrigeration.

This is for you, Sarah! ENJOY! Happy vegan-cooking!

Catch ya’ll in 2020!

3.25 from 4 votes
Low Carb Vegan Cornbread
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
 
Course: Side
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cornbread
Servings: 12 servings
Author: Rachel Katzman
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Almond Flour
  • 1/4 cup Coconut Flour
  • 3 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt (or Pink Himalayan Salt, for those electrolytes!)
  • 1/2 cup Avocado oil
  • 1 tbsp Chia Seeds, preferably ground Or you can use flax seeds
  • 2 1/2 tbsp Water
  • 1/4 cup Almond Milk Or any non-dairy milk you like!
  • 25 drops Liquid Stevia
  • 1 cup Nutritional Yeast
  • 2/3 can Baby Corn, chopped
  • 1 Jalapeno, diced, seeded and ribs removed Optional - but a good kick!
Instructions
  1. Make the chia egg (egg substitute): Mix the chia (or flax) seeds, preferably ground, with the 2 1/2 tbsp water in a small bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes to thicken

  2. Pre-heat the oven to 350F and grease a 9-inch casserole dish with avocado or olive oil

  3. In a medium-sized bowl. combine the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to remove any clumps and and set aside

  4. In a another (large) bowl combine the chia or flax egg, avocado oil, almond milk, liquid stevia, diced jalapenos (if using) and nutritional yeast. Whisk until full no lumps. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet so you have 1 thick batter

  5. Fold in the chopped baby corn and transfer all to the casserole dish

  6. Bake for 37-40 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and slice into squares. Garnish with some green onions and non-dairy sour cream - or serve alongside chili for a hearty meal!