This recipe was just thrown together very mistakenly to use up our lovely leftover lamb from Easter Sunday! I know not everyone has lamb for easter so, much like my other recipes, it can be adapted for any meat or veg you might have leftover that needs using! I adapted the recipe for the base of my salad from one of my favourite chefs, Yotam Ottolenghi. This is a simplified version of his Mejadra rice dish, which is great with leftover lamb and veg, topped with some tasty sauces!
Ingredients
200g uncooked rice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
350ml water
Any leftover lamb and / or vegetables
Spicy tomato sauce
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp harissa paste
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place a deep saucepan onto a medium heat, adding your coriander and cumin seeds. Toast the seeds for a minute or two, then add the all the ingredients except the water. Stir to coat rice with the oil, season with 1/2 tsp salt and lots of pepper, then add the water. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. The rice should have absorbed all the spiced water, leaving a lovely scented dish.
Whilst this is cooking, in a small bowl add all the ingredients for the tomato sauce, mix well and season.
Remove from the heat and place into a shallow bowl, top with the leftover vegetables and lamb, drizzle with the spicy tomato sauce. If eaten straight away, I recommend heating up your leftovers before topping the rice dish. If you'd rather wait, it can also kept in the fridge and eaten cold over the next few days.
Another great sauce to have with this dish is a simple tahini sauce. This is made with the juice of 2 lemons, 4 tbsp tahini paste, 2 crushed garlic cloves, water to loosen and seasoned with lots of salt and pepper.