Sausage Rice on the Side

Okay, the photo is not very appetizing. Talk about a dish that needs some parsley, or a sprinkling of paprika, but as we all know sometimes the best things come in ugly packages.

I got an e mail over the weekend from Melissa who is doing a dinner party and more than half of her guests will be vegetarian. She wanted a side dish recipe that would include meat both for her and the other carnivores in the crowd.

This is just a simple variation of the New Orleans Dirty Rice that is so popular.

1/2 pound Italian Sausage (I get the spicy)
1 minced medium onion
1 minced clove of garlic
1 1/2 cup rice
3 1/4 cups water

If the sausage is in a casing cut the casing away and add to the water. Put on a glove, this part is messy. Mix the sausage into the water, like soup, you want the sausage to fall into little bits and not clump up. Once you have a mushy mess stir in the rice, onion and garlic and put on the stove to boil. When it comes to a big boil turn down to a low simmer, put the pot on the rice and leave alone for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave alone for 5, then get a fork and fluff and serve.

When I get in one of those moods I have been known to make a pot and top with some stewed okra and tomatoes and eat a big ole bowl. The New Orleans of my childhood may not exist anymore but with a bowl of this mess, you can believe the South will rise again.