Welcome to my newsletter, a place for budget-based recipes that are flavorful and exciting—not just cheap. I am so glad you’ve placed your attention here for a moment. If you’re interested in more, please do subscribe below.
This was the first week in many, many months that only one morning started with looking at my book manuscript. Because I filed the first draft!(!!) So I’m swimming in that free space between filing work and getting edits. I do love to be in that part of the writing process. Did I nail it or totally miss? There’s no way to know, and no use panicking about it! However brief this moment is, I’ll savor it. And soon (hopefully) I’ll have more than that one Instagram post to share with you about this project.
In the meantime, I’d love to spend a little more energy here. So let’s talk about rice? Rice for dinner is my favorite. Hot from the rice cooker, dressed with vinegar and a runny egg; toasted in coconut oil and sizzled with cumin seed and turmeric, dolloped with thick yogurt; simmered with chili paste and black beans. And here, steamed with fried onions, fluffed with chopped herb and golden raisin confetti.
I do call the below recipe dinner, usually with a smear of labneh at the bottom of my bowl. But if you’re hungrier, treat this as a side alongside roast chicken or something to that effect. Nestle in boiled eggs, stir in a can of chickpeas, whatever makes it seem like a meal to you is the right way to eat it. Sometimes I top the rice with frozen peas or sturdy greens before covering the pot, because I usually forget about vegetables until nighttime (and unless they offer me a sponsorship you simply won’t catch me drinking a three-dollar scoop of green powder). Feeding a larger group? Double it!1
Clocks in at about $5 total, ready in barely half an hour, dirties just one pot and a cutting board, who could ask for anything more? If you could, I’d love to know. Comments are open, tell me what you might be excited to cook if it showed up on the newsletter.
ICYMI
Before rice, thought I’d share some other work:
Sourdough discard scones and sugar cookies for The Perfect Loaf
More raisins in savory stuff for Bon Appetit: vinegar chicken, pantry pasta, chunky vinaigrette (look for a sweet lil package in the March issue!)
Frizzled Onion Rice with Plenty of Herbs
Serves 2-3 as main; 3-4 as a side
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow or red onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup preferred long-grain rice, rinsed until the water runs clear and drained
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 lemon, zested; then halved
¾ cup very finely chopped dill, parsley, and/or cilantro
¼ cup golden raisins (optional)
Crumbled or sliced feta, for serving (optional)
Method
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high until it shimmers. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and fry, tossing occasionally, until starting to char in spots, 4-6 minutes.
Stir in the rice and let it toast in the residual oil until it starts to stick to the pot, 2-3 minutes. Stir in 1 ¼ cups water and a big pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil. (Now’s the time to add a few big handfuls of raw leafy greens or about 1 cup frozen vegetables if you want.) Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and let the rice cook until the water has evaporated and the grains are tender, 12-15 minutes. (Now’s the time to uncover, add cooked beans if you want, then recover the pot.) Turn off the heat and let the rice steam for 5 minutes.
Add the grated garlic, lemon zest, the juice of half the lemon (about 2 tablespoons), and raisins if using to the pot. Use a fork to fluff the rice and combine all the additions. Now that the rice isn’t quite so hot, stir in the herbs to keep them bright green. Taste and season with more salt and/or lemon juice as desired. Slice any remaining lemon into wedges for serving, and grab the feta if using.
If saving leftovers, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate within two hours; reheat until steaming hot (sorry to the fresh garlic and herbs but food safety is important) within 24 hours.
I feel like I say that a lot, but it is true. I’ll try to chill.
I've done many things with rice, but never anything like this. Love the raisins. Looking forward to trying it!