One-Pot Mujadara With Leeks and Greens

By Melissa Clark

One-Pot Mujadara With Leeks and Greens
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
5(2,493)
Comments
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Cookbooks will tell you that, in the Middle East, mujadara is the essence of comfort food, a humble dish made from pantry staples. To that I will add how easy it is to make.

The only part that needs some attention is the frying of the onions (or in this case, leeks). To get them crisp, you have to cook them until they are deeply brown and darker than you might be comfortable with. But without the deep color, you don’t get the crunch. Just make sure to take them off the heat before they burn. You want the majority to be mahogany, not black (though a few black strands would be O.K.).

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 1cup brown or green lentils
  • 2leeks, white and light green parts only, roots trimmed
  • 2¼teaspoons salt, more as needed
  • ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2garlic cloves, minced
  • ¾cup long-grain rice
  • 1½teaspoons ground cumin
  • ½teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼teaspoon cayenne
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1cinnamon stick
  • 4cups trimmed and chopped spring greens (chard leaves, spinach, kale, mustard or a combination)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

228 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 209 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place lentils in a large bowl and add warm tap water to cover by 1 inch. Let soak.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, halve leeks lengthwise; run under warm water to release any grit. Thinly slice leeks crosswise.

  3. Step 3

    Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crispy, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer half the leeks to a bowl to use for garnish and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt.

  4. Step 4

    Stir garlic into the pot with the remaining leeks and cook for 15 seconds until fragrant. Stir in rice and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in cumin, allspice and cayenne; sauté 30 seconds.

  5. Step 5

    Drain lentils and stir into pot. Add 4¼ cups water, 2 teaspoons salt, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Rinse greens in a colander and spread damp leaves over lentil mixture. Cover and cook 5 minutes more, until rice and lentils are tender and greens are wilted. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with reserved crispy leeks.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
2,493 user ratings
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Comments

Rosemary

I grew up w/ Lebanese grandparents nearby & this was 1 of our staples. It's a complete protein too. I also often use bulgur wheat instead of rice, & have never used anything but yellow onions cooked dark brown in oil. Some saved for the top. It's meant to be eaten at room temp, after a few hrs on counter, & is often better next day. We had a gr. salad w/ oil & lem. dressing, & lots of my g'ma's homemade "Syrian" bread, as she called it. So good

Mark

Swap out the rice for bulgar wheat and I find that the texture of the dish is far superior.

NK

This is a staple dish from my husband's side of the family, but we brown onions not leeks, and do it separately. Therefore we use much less oil for the mujadara itself. My family seasons it as they like at the table, using the onions, Greek yogurt, and/or Siracha Melissa-style.

Nicole

I found 4.5 cups of water to be way too much liquid to be absorbed by the rice and lentils. There was easily a full cup of liquid remaining in the pot after the requisite cooking time. The rice was completely overcooked. Maybe just my experience, but wanted to put it out there in case others are wary of using so much water for so little rice.

CNR

The core of this recipe is very robust. If you don't have everything, it still stands up. I had big appetites, one gluten-free, a pack of brown basmati rice and not much else or time. Fried the garlic, then rice + whole cumin seeds, then allspice, bay, cinnamon, then bean cooking water from freezer that had usual aromatics, then greens. Served with fridge raid of veg + chilli oil. Big hit. If you have the other stuff, even better, but the lovely spicing here is still something.

taylor

This is the first semi-miss from Melissa Clark for me. The flavors were nice but it just came out really wet and mushy, a lot of the seasonings washed out into the water at the bottom of the pot. Since I liked the concept I tried a similar recipe from elsewhere: overall same method but with 1 cup lentils and 1 cup rice, soak lentils in a large bowl of freshly boiled water for 30min before cooking, and then use 2.5-3 cups water to cook the lentils and rice for about 15 min total. Also used onions instead of leeks for this second attempt, and I don’t think it makes much difference either way, both are tasty. Came out fluffy and tender, very good topped with yogurt and cilantro

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