When I was little and had the flu, there were a few easy comfort specials I would have my mother dish up to accompany my day of “Price is Right” and dramatic suffering: strawberry Jello, garlic soup, and white rice with lemon. These days, whenever I taste a bright, lemony rice dish it always takes me back a little to the thrill of no homework and daytime television. On vacation a few weeks ago, there was a lot of the latter and, lucky for me, my mother and I made enough of this rice salad (which sat beside my salmon burgers at dinner one night) to accompany a long, drawn-out recovery—not from any particular illness, just from the trials of quarter life.
From my kitchen, albeit small, to yours,
Phoebe, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice (or any long grain white rice)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small shallot, minced
¼ cup parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
2 tsp white vinegar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
In a medium stock pot, bring 2 cups of salted water to boil. Add the rice, turn the heat to low, cover and cook until all the liquid has absorbed and the rice is cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Using a fork, fluff the rice and allow to cool slightly.
In a medium mixing bowl, or in the rice pot (as shown below), combine the remaining ingredients and taste for seasoning. Serve warm or at room temperature as a refreshing, yet filling summer side.
