Sunday, February 6, 2011

Super Rice Bowl


This is about as close as I get to a post on super bowl anything.

I love sushi, but I don't have it often. And when I do, I have a vegetarian option. What I really crave, aside from the silky beautifulness of high-quality raw fish, is rice and seaweed and ginger and soy. When I get a fix of that, I tend to not miss the fish anymore. And I try to not get all in-your-face political over here, but if people don't stop eating fish, we will not have any more. Period.

So. I recently was given a brand new rice cooker, which I was like wha? Whatever will I do with that? After a great discussion on my Facebook page about it, I gave it a go. And I like it. I mean, I didn't think rice could get any easier, but it did. And easier clean up too. I'll make a few cups of rice in the beginning of the week. I'll heat up a cup of rice for lunch, and add to that a half of a perfectly ripe avocado, seaweed, pickled ginger and a few shakes of soy sauce. You can put anything on it of course: some edamame, an egg, greens, pickles, vegetables chopped in matchsticks, sesame seeds.

The pickled ginger from The Ginger People is addicting, for the record. Steve asked me why I didn't make some of my own, and it's really because I love this stuff so much. I bought a case of it. And the seaweed is Yama Moto Yama seaweed snack chips. I snip them with my kitchen scissors right onto my rice.

I'm sure I'm being very basic here with the add-ons. If you have a great idea, let me know in the comments, would you? This way of eating has been a great way to avoid the lure of grilled cheese sandwiches, so I don't want to tire of it!

16 comments:

  1. root veggies roasted with a dash of soy. plus kimchi and sweet pickled daikon! :)

    i don't have a rice cooker, but i am so into cooking whole grains and using them throughout the week. can you cook other grains in it? farro and quinoa are at the top of my list right now.

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  2. Oh this looks really good. I have a ripe avocado waiting for me on the counter, and this might be just the thing. YUM.

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  3. With pickled or non pickled Ginger, soy, sesame oil and veges who needs fishes anyway?!
    I am so looking up "The Ginger People" Thanks.

    Tigress: you can cook other grains in the rice cooker. It has a sensor that somehow knows when they are done. Just check out the model.

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  4. I want a rice cooker. I don't know where I'll put it, but I want one anyway. And I'm glad that I don't like fish very much. It's one less thing to be conflicted about. Avocados, though? They'd better watch out when I'm around. I do like all this roasted veggies and grains cooked ahead of time business -- smart. We are loving the quinoa here.

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  5. Wait, I meant that I don't like to eat fish very often, not that I don't like little fishies in the world. But you got that, right?

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  6. Hurray for not eating the fishes!
    I agree with Tigress: kimchi is the way to go with this bowl. There was a place in town a few years back that had these great Buddha Bowls, and they would do basically like you, but put some very lightly steamed veggies on top of the rice, too: like sweet potato, broccoli, and carrots. I'd forgotten all about those bowls, and I think I'll put it into this week's lunch rotation.

    Oh, and about the Super Bowl, my husband and I took to calling it the Superb Owl, and found that to be a great way to confuse people. "Where is this Superb Owl everyone has been talking about?"

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  7. Tigress - I knew you'd be on board for this! Like Two By Sea says, I believe you can do anything. It senses when the water is gone, and if you put the right amounts in the grains should be cooked. I was worried about brown rice, as the directions never even discussed it!, and it works fine. Let's do some other grain experiments! It's a great idea.

    Emily - IMO, the ripe avocado is key.

    Two By Sea - Yes! Get that ginger, it's perfect.

    Shae - I wouldn't never think that you would not like fishes personally. You are way too kind a person!

    Zemmely - You're right. I can't believe I haven't made it in a while. And for the record, I would totally go to the Superb Owl. Love your sense of humor!

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  8. Yum! A few chopped peanuts might be a nice addition one day, unless you are allergic. Maybe some super-slow caramelized onions.

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  9. Denise! So good to hear from you! I am not allergic, and I agree that would be tasty. So would the onions. God, I love caramelized onions.

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  10. I made a version of this for lunch today. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  11. I wonder what you had on it? Glad to inspire. Lately, I've been having rice, spinach, sesame oil, soy sauce, seaweed, sesame seeds and a fried or hard-boiled egg for breakfast. I love it.

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  12. I miss making rice bowls. I barely have the time. This is something I really want to do now.

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  13. and again today... i used your basic ingredients plus some carrots i quick pickled and sesame seeds. what type of rice do you use? i'm using Lundberg brown sweet rice and loving it. your new spinach & egg version looks great! i read your new comment and topped my bowl with a little sesame oil. yum.

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  14. Denise - you rule. The rice I used was not what I would have used given the choice. I bought a boat load of basmati and have to use it up. I think your choice of rice sound perfect. Love that brown sweet rice. The other day I made a brown rice (medium grained) bowl with a carrot ginger slaw (miso rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing). How did you do your quick pickled carrot? That's what I was going to do, but got carried away...With chopped nori on top.

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  15. Pickled Carrots - I just sliced up two carrots super thin w/ a mandoline, measured 1/2 sugar and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar + a little grated ginger (thumb above your knuckle size) about 1/2 tsp salt and a dash of red pepper flakes...put it all in a bowl w/ lid, turned it a bit and set it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. I like the nori on top too :)

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