I was watching YouTube for recipes, as I often do, and I ran across a recipe from Foodwishes called Dirty, Dirty Rice. Chef John said he likes his rice extra dirty. Now dirty rice gets its dirtiness from liver and pork. I know most people are not fans of liver. I’m weird because I only like certain types of liver. I am not a fan of liver and onions. Not my thing. My dad loved it as do many people of his generation. However, I love chicken liver, liver pate and braunschweiger. Yea, kinda weird. One thing to note about liver is that it is one of the highest sources of vitamin you can get. Like 10,000% of your daily need in one serving. So if you do like liver, there’s a good reason to eat it. Since we have gone vegetarian, I want to make a dirty rice that is just as flavorful as one with meat. I am actually going to do a mashup of recipes. Foodwishes for the method, Tori Avey for the vegetarian chopped liver, and In Johnna’s Kitchen for the vegan andouille sausage. It will be good. Hope you give this recipe a try. Post in the comments if you do. I’m not giving you the original stats on this recipe, but here is what I changed:

• I am using mushrooms and TVP with soy sauce in place of the pork shoulder
• I am using low sodium vegetable broth to reduce the sodium
• I am using frozen peas in place of the canned peas to reduce the sodium.
• I am also leaving out any added salt.
• I am switching the white rice with brown rice to increase the fiber.
• I added extra green bell pepper and carrots to increase the vitamins A and C.
• I increased the servings to 14 to lower the calories

Here is the final recipe:

Vegetarian Extra Dirty Rice

Serves 14

Vegetarian Chopped Liver

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1 cup onion , chopped
• 1 cup chopped walnuts , toasted
• 3 peeled hard boiled eggs , divided
• 15 oz frozen peas, thawed

Vegan Andouille Sausage

• 1- 7.5 ounce block tempeh 
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup vegetable stock
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon sage
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the Dirty Rice

• Cooking Spay
• 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 7 green bell peppers, chopped
• 6 carrots, chopped
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or some fresh)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon ultra low sodium soy sauce
• 1.5 cups long grain brown rice
• 10 ounce package textured vegetable protein
• 6 cups broth
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 chopped Italian parsley

1. Start with the chopped liver by heating the vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute until brown.
2. Add the onions to a food processor with the eggs, walnuts, and peas.  Process until well chopped.  Set aside.
3. Spray the dutch oven with cooking spray and crumble in the tempeh.  Add in the broth and spices for the andouille sausage.  Cook over medium heat until the liquid is gone.
4. Add the yellow onion for the dirty rice to the pot along with the mushrooms, carrots, and bell pepper.  Cook until soft and the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated.
5. Add in the spices, textured vegetable protein, broth, soy sauce, and rice.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover.  Cook for 45 minutes until the rice is tender.
6. Stir in the vegetarian chopped liver.
7. Top with onions and parsley.
8. Serve