On Christmas Day friends of ours brought us a pint jar with 2 halves of Meyer lemon preserved in salt. I’ve been kicking around the idea of a pulao using slices of of the lemon. The result was absolutely fantastic.

This dish could be made without the preserved lemon, but it adds such an amazing flavor to the rice that it is worth finding it, making them, or befriending people who make them and give you some!

The Stuff

• 2 cups* brown basmati rice
• Juice and grated rind from a large lemon
• 8 green cardamom pods
• 1 small shallot, cut in half, then into very thin slices
• 2 T Earth Balance (or your preferred vegan margarine)
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/2 t amchur
• 2 T cashew halves
• 4 cups* water
• 2 1/4″ slices of preserved lemon, salt dusted off and any seeds removed
• Additional salt, to taste (preferably the salt from the lemon if you have it)
• 3 T chopped, fresh coriander

The Making

Rinse rise and soak in water 10-15 minutes. Drain well.

Bring a skillet to medium-high heat, add Earth Balance and bring up to heat. Add shallot and saute 5 minutes, until the shallot beings to caramelize. Add in the cashews and continue to saute another 3 minutes before carefully adding in the well-drained rice. Saute the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring often, until rice begins to brown, then sprinkle ground spices over the top and mix in evenly.

Add rice into cooker pot along with lemon rind, lemon juice, cardamom and slices of preserved lemon. Add water in to the 2 cup mark f0r brown rice, close lid and set to cook.

After rice finishes cooking open lid, remove lemon slices, and stir. Remove any remaining lemon from the rind, cut up and return to pot. Slice rind into small pieces and add them back to pot. Stir in sliced up lemon and add salt to taste. Stir in fresh coriander.

*When I mention “cup” here it is referring to the measuring cup that come with the rice cooker. I also don’t measure the water with the same cup, I use the lines inside the cooker pot to get the right amount of water.

Yes, you can totally make this on the stove. Just saute shallot and rice in a 3-quart stock pot, add water, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender.

Serves 6-8

I’ve been really curious about bento lunches, I like the way the food is neatly arranged and portioned. I’ve not gone so far as to invest in bento boxes from Japan or making tiny flowers out of carrots, yet, but I have experimented with a couple of dishes that pack well into small containers for lunch. One of the easiest and tastiest are these little pockets of abura-age filled with rice and roasted beets. The beets turn the rice a gorgeous hue and look like little jewels. Christie supplied the lovely name for this dish.

The Stuff

• 2 large pieces of abura-age (check out an Asian, preferably Japanese market for these, we get them at Uwajimaya)
• 1 medium, red beet, peeled & diced into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 cups of cooked, short-grain brown rice
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar (“sushi” vinegar)
• 1/2 T canola oil
• salt/pepper
• Furikake (to garnish, optional)

The Making

Pre-heat over to 375. Toss diced beet in canola oil and a little salt & pepper. Roast diced beet in oven until tender.

Add rice to a bowl and drizzle vinegar over. Stir vigorously, tossing the rice well in the vinegar and set aside to let rice absorb it. Once all the vinegar has been absorbed, add in the roasted beets and toss together to mix well. Rice will begin to take on a rich, red hue.

Slice the pieces of abura-age in half and carefully open up. Stuff rice, vinegar & beet mixture carefully, but firmly into the abura-age pouches. Sprinkle tops with your favorite furikake mix if desired.

Either serve immediately or pack into your bento lunch! The abura-age pouches make for a very neat way to enjoy the rice & beets. These even pack well for a hand-held snack while hiking!

The ruby beet pockets are at the top of this picture of a great, stir-fry medley we had a few weeks ago featuring broccoli/tofu/leek, the rest of the roasted beets not used for the rice pockets, and garlic/green beans.