I did not grow up in a brown rice eating household. The primary reason is this: my mother brought back certain eating habits from Japan, where she did her research, the biggest one these being that only white rice should be (and was) served. Any brown rice that managed to squeeze through our front door was part of a box mix and while there was no point in picking out the offending grains, it was emphasized that this was Not Good Rice.

However, Mark loves brown rice and subsequently, this supposedly terrible, horrible, no good very bad rice appears a lot on our table. I can’t say this adjustment was made without a little kicking and screaming – it’s difficult to overturn 20 years of rice philosophy overnight. What won me over to brown rice wasn’t its flavor, but its texture and chewiness. It’s a grain that makes you masticate – you can’t just gulp it down and move on to the next bite.

This recipe is inspired by Giada de Laurentiis’ Neapolitan Calamari and Shrimp Salad. In the doldrums of Indiana winter, her salad looked so bright and delicious that I had an instant craving…except I didn’t have any orzo, calamari, or shrimp on hand. So I substituted brown rice for the orzo (short grain white rice is too sticky) and chicken for the seafood and made a fairly healthy, flavor packed salad.

Brown Rice Salad with Roasted Zucchini

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups uncooked brown rice, medium grain
• 2 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 3/4 frozen peas
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup onion, minced
• 1/8-1/4 cup lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. In a rice cooker, add 4 cups water to 2 cups rice and turn cooker on.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, coat zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Arrange on baking sheet and roast for 10-12 minutes, or until tender.
3. In the same bowl, add tomato, onion, and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper, and combine.
4. In a large bowl, add frozen peas, cooked rice, Parmesan cheese, and the rest of the seasoned vegetables and toss to combine.

One final note: This salad also goes well combined with roasted boneless-skinless chicken breasts seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Shrimp would also work and I suspect salmon would also be delicious, but I haven’t tried those combinations yet.

The kind of cookie you curse while burning it off at the gym later.

Although this recipe is not a family recipe – sorry, Mom! – it’s the best one I’ve found so far. I’ve made it many times and each time, the cookies come out thick, chewy, and full of chocolate in every bite. They’ve been a consistent favorite and probably ruined a few diets.

As for my coworkers? I’m fairly certain they liked this triple Japan-sized portion of cookie…I saw several of them going back for seconds.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups (or a whole 12oz. bag) Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips¹

Directions

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.  Add the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk and mix thoroughly.
3. Mix in the dry ingredients until just blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips by hand with a wooden spoon.
4. Refrigerate dough for at least 4 hours until firm, or overnight.²
5. When ready to bake, set the oven at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
6. Scoop 1/4 cup mounds of cookie dough and roll into balls (a little larger than a golf ball).  Place on prepared cookie sheets, 3 inches apart.
7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

One final note: I wouldn’t recommend substituting margarine for the butter. There’s something terrible about margarine when it shows up in baked goods and the flavor doesn’t seem as rich. I hate to pull a Paula Deen, but please, use real butter.

1. These chips are larger than any others I’ve come across, without becoming chunks. My second favorite to use is Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate chips…I kind of have a thing for dark chocolate.
2. If you form the cookies while the dough is cool and moderately hard, it won’t spread as much during baking and end up looking deflated. It may add a few minutes to your baking time though.

In the past year, I’ve sorely neglected this blog. The couple of attempts to restart it were killed as quickly as they were coded – losing your mom can really mess with your mind. I spent a lot of last year wavering between moments of extreme happiness and sadness, which was probably exacerbated by being a geographically uprooted newlywed with a new job. So my apologies to any readers I might have left and I hope that this time, I can get it right.

I’ve decided to make this blog personal in nature, but with emphasis on cooking and photography. I’ve been very inspired first and foremost by Evangeline’s food photography, which reminds me of all the beautiful cakes I saw (and ate, somewhat guiltily) in Japan, Kristin from Culinary Snapshot (and Dine and Dish), where I continue to learn about the technical work in taking pictures of food, and Jason Santa Maria, whose work and blog inspired me to think outside the box. I hope that some day, my work will be good enough to stand with theirs.