Three Tasty-Easy Recipes for Leftover Rice

There are two things that are staple foods in the Iranian cuisine: rice and bread. They eat rice with different kinds of meat stews or vegetable dishes. In North of Iran, near the Caspian Sea, there are beautiful rice fields which are widely famous for cultivation of different kinds of Persian rice.

You can make 10s of gorgeous dishes with white/brown or wild rice. You can make rice with stew, curry, beautiful green herbs and vegetables or spices. You can cook rice in a rice cooker, in microwave or on the stove.

Anyway, what led me to talk about rice was that sometimes after a party we have leftover rice on hand, so instead of wasting it, you would be better to turn your leftover plain rice into a fabulous new rice dish 🙂

I have three easy- quick and tasty recipes for turning your rice into lentils rice, herbed rice and potato rice.

Ingredients for lentils rice

one cup lentils
1 cube meat or vegetable stock
½ tsp cumin powder
Pinch of black pepper
Butter

How to make it?????

Bring to a boil, add lentils, one vegetable or meat stock, pepper and cumin. Reduce heat and simmer until they are tender but not mushy( it takes typically 20-30 minutes) and usually it depends on the age of your lentils. Once it is cooked, add it to the leftover rice and gently mix. Spread some melted butter all over the rice and serve it.

Ingredients for herbed rice

small bunch of chives or spring onions, finely chopped
small bunch of dill, finely chopped
small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

How to make it?????

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped herbs, seasoning with salt, pepper, cinnamon and cumin. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and stir in sautéed herbs and gently combine and allow it up for few minutes and serve it.

Ingredients for rice and potatoes

5 baby potatoes
Pinch of chilli flakes
butter
Salt to taste

How to make it?????

Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Salt the water. Bring it to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender. Drain and add melted butter and sprinkle chilli flakes on them. Serve the rice in a plate and top it with buttery potatoes.

Published by rozinaspersiankitchen

Hello everyone, my name is Rozina. I am Iranian with Azerbaijani roots. I was raised in Iran but I am living in Scotland. I am passionate about cooking and preparing meals for my family and friends. I tell them the story behind the meal, the pronunciation of their Iranian name and the spices that used in Persian cuisine. I am a photographer, a cooking teacher, and very interested to introduce Persian and Azerbaijani meals, desserts and beverages to people from different cultures, as I love to try food from all over the world. Iranian cuisine is a combination of rice with meat ( chicken, beef, lamb, fish, turkey), nuts, fruits, dried and fresh herbs and vegetables. Iranian food is a celebration of flavor, colour and spices such as: saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, dried rose petals, dried limes, cumin, .... I share my recipes in Farsi/English along with step by step photos of preparation. I take all my own pictures. I have learned my traditional Persian and Azerbaijani recipes from my lovely mother, and she has learned from her mother. Over the years, I have experimented and learned more recipes. Some of my recipes are a fusion Western and Middle Eastern cuisine. Some are forgotten from Persian cooking tables and I try with posting and sharing those ones, to preserve them. All my recipes and pictures are property of rozinaspersiankitchen. I would be pleased if you would mention my site if you wish to use any of them. So, if you are interested to know about Persian /Azerbaijani food taste, you can try my website. I will be glad to hear your ideas about my recipes. :) Thank you for visiting my website. View more posts