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Budget cooking: tasty, pretty, cheap

Did you know that a hamburger at McDonald's costs over $3? Pardon my French, but that is putain de stupide. How about we spend about $2.75 on something tastier, prettier, and better filling, 'cause fuck that shit.

Remember me talking a little while back about sautéing rice? That's how we want to start. I made some garlic confit over the weekend, so I used some of the garlic oil and got the rice going in the cooker with that. Got it all mixed in and went to work on the stove.

I did this meal with a pork chop, but it should work about as well with a steak, some thinner piece(s) of chicken, or even some super firm tofu. I seasoned that chunk of pig with some salt, black pepper, cumin, and ground mustard. By the way, if you don't use ground mustard and you're not allergic to it, use that shit. It's not like the yellow mustard at your local cafeteria: it's got flavor, a small touch of heat (which is negligible if you don't just pour a fuckton on there), and also helps give a nice color. Just sayin. Use ground mustard, you barbarian.

Sorry for the blurriness; I was fucking cooking

Of course, while the pork chop is going, your rice is still cooking. Once it's started to puff up a little bit, why not throw in a handful of cherry tomatoes cut into wedges? Mix those in there and let it cook a bit more, then add your water, salt, pepper, and lid. You can ignore the rice until it's done now.

Don't forget to flip your protein before it burns. 

Once the pork was done, I pulled it out of the pan, added a little more olive oil, and dropped in a palmful of red chili flakes. Remember to let that simmer a little bit before adding anything else; it helps the chili flavor (and heat) to permeate the oil a bit. You want that.

Side note: I also dumped a bit of chopped green onion into my rice at this point and gave it a stir. 

Once the oil was all chilified, I dropped in some chopped broccoli, mixed it around, then let it sit and scorch a little bit. I don't know if it's true, but I swear that the broccoli's greenness intensifies as it cooks. Also, as the water is cooked out of the broccoli and before it all evaporates, you can actually use the moisture to help scrape all that flavor off the bottom of the pan. #lifehack

Once your broccoli is about half done, dump in the rest of your vegetables. I used sliced mushroom, diced yellow bell pepper, and diced radish. Season that shit with salt and black pepper, and let it simmer for a little while. Gotta let your rice finish cooking if it isn't already done.

Now's the fancy-ass part: we're making some art. Since the rice is a bit puffier due to the sautéing, the final volume is pretty high, so I packed a full bowl.

Just turn your plate upside down over the bowl and give it all a flip. Try to have the bowl positioned a little bit towards one side of the plate, not centered up.

Remove the bowl, and behold your rice dome, complete with tomato, green onion, and black pepper to make it look fucking delicious.

All that's left is spooning some of your veggie mix around the rice on the side with more room (hence placing the rice off-center), and topping the rice with your protein, thinly sliced, and with a little lean. It's called flair, motherfucker. 

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