the sun isn't really out -- the sky isn't blue -- there's a monocloud, but it's hot and humid and everything is bright with this directionless but laser-intense spring light. the magnolia trees and forsythia are blooming, the music with spanish lyrics that i have no name for is blasting from passing cars and houses on the corner. i finally got a pannier rack for my bike so i was able to use the panniers my grandma gave me as a high school graduation present to get some groceries today without sweating a hole in the back of my shirt. nothing is really ok in the world but saturday is my only day off so i have no choice but to relax for a minute.
i don't know why but i wanted to write down and post my current recipe for bachelor chow. loosely based on a "viral tiktok recipe" for salmon rice that someone showed me a few years ago. since i'm old and my brain runs one letter at a time like a punch-card computer, i had to find a version someone wrote down instead of screaming at a ring light, but it's a good recipe. the tiktok version requires day-old rice (that you add a bit of water to and microwave under a damp paper towel), which is supposed to absorb the flavors better and may be the pro mov, but i usually make it with fresh rice and i like it that way. makes one serving because i'm all alone in the world, and i wouldn't necessarily feed this to someone else since it's not fancy, but it's a comforting simple meal for me that i can season with pretty much whatever seasoning i'm into lately. in this version, the nutty flavor of the brown rice accentuates the sesame in the zaatar and mellows out the citrus, and fish + citrus is a classic pairing of course.
- 1/2 cup brown riceparcook the brown rice (and oil) in 1 cup of water plus a little extra for 15 minutes. add the lentils and 1 more cup of water, return to a boil, and simmer for 25 minutes. once it's cooked, put whatever amount of rice/lentils you want to eat as one serving into a bowl, then dump in the salmon packet along with its juice, add the lime mayo, add lots of orange pepper and lots of zaatar, mash it all together and eat.