Dirty Rice with Ground Beef

The semester accelerates. Biology 1202 is in genetics now — inheritance patterns, Mendelian crosses, the elegant mathematics of how traits pass from parent to child. I think about MawMaw Shirley's hands every time the professor draws a Punnett square: the way my hands look like hers when I stir, the way Daddy's stubbornness traveled through the genes the way eye color does, persistent and dominant. Genetics is the science of family, and I am a student of both.

Priya and I have developed a cooking schedule in the dorm kitchen: I cook Monday and Wednesday, she cooks Tuesday (pasta, always pasta, because Priya learned to make pasta and nothing else and she is committed to this single dish with the focus of a pre-med student, which she is). Thursday is takeout. Friday is chaos. The schedule works because it has structure, and structure, I have learned, is not the opposite of freedom. It is the foundation of it. When you know what you are eating, you can spend your mental energy on organic chemistry instead of dinner, and the exchange rate is favorable.

I drove to Baker Sunday. MawMaw Shirley was in the garden — her small backyard garden where she grows tomatoes, okra, and herbs. She was on her knees in the dirt, which at seventy-eight is not advisable, but advising MawMaw Shirley is like advising the weather: you can have opinions but they will not change the outcome. She was pulling weeds and talking to the okra, which she claims helps it grow. I have no scientific basis for this. I also have no counter-evidence. The okra does grow well.

She sent me home with a bag of herbs — thyme, oregano, basil — from the garden. The herbs smelled like Baker, like her backyard, like the specific square of Louisiana soil that has been growing food for fifty years under MawMaw Shirley's supervision. I put them in water glasses on the kitchen table at the dorm and the room smelled like someone's grandmother lived there, which is, I think, the best thing any room can smell like.

I stood in the dorm kitchen Monday night with MawMaw’s thyme and oregano still sitting in water glasses on the table, and the only recipe that made any sense was dirty rice — the dish that has been on her stove every time I have ever walked through her back door, the one that smells like the holy trinity hitting a hot pan, the one that tastes like Baker. The herbs were right there. The ground beef was in the mini-fridge. The structure of a Monday cook night was in place, and sometimes structure is what gives you permission to make something that actually matters.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 5

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (80/20)
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
3 stalks celery, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 3/4 tsp dried)
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Cook the rice. Combine rice and beef broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and simmer for 18 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
Brown the beef. Heat 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until fully browned and no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to a bowl, leaving the drippings in the pan.
Build the trinity. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the drippings. Over medium heat, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to turn golden, about 6–7 minutes.
Add garlic and herbs. Add the minced garlic, thyme, and oregano to the skillet. Stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, and remaining black pepper, stirring to coat the vegetables evenly.
Combine everything. Return the browned ground beef to the skillet. Add the cooked rice and stir everything together thoroughly, making sure the rice is fully incorporated and coated in the seasoned drippings. Cook over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice picks up a little color and everything is heated through.
Finish and serve. Taste and adjust salt and Cajun seasoning as needed. Remove from heat and fold in the sliced green onions and fresh parsley. Serve immediately, directly from the skillet.

Nutrition (per serving)

Dirty Rice with Ground Beef — The Herbs MawMaw Sent Me Home With