Bhutanese Red Rice with Sweet Potatoes, Plums and Sesame Chicken

I was planning to serve Ema Datsi with the red rice and then changed my mind in order to use up the small wedge of red cabbage and one sweet potato that was left in the vegetable basket, and the rapidly aging plum that was thinking of inviting fruit flies.

A colorful plate with a little of this and a little of that is a huge blessing, to be able to enjoy every morsel. With food allergies so prevalent and the other half suffering from as-yet undetected allergen, it is a tricky proposition at home to make a meal that all of us can enjoy without consequences.

Anyway, pan roasted sweet potato was par-cooked first in the microwave then finished off in a cast iron skillet, along with a wedge of red cabbage and hunks of red onion. The chicken was rubbed with a mix of powdered toasted black sesame seeds and black pepper (and hence the black color), and cooked on the same cast iron skillet, after removing the veggies.

On the same pan, some chopped plums and cooking red wine and some cider vinegar plus some herbs from the garden came together to reduce to a simple sauce.

Although a bit pricey, every once in a while I get Bhutanese red rice and serve it as a centerpiece in a meal. And that's how this simple plate came about one weekend.

Black rice, Bean salad, and Pan-fried Butternut Squash

'Kadhambam', as they say in Tamil, is a catch-all word for 'combination/mixture' of unlikely things.

Kadhambam is what this dinner turned out to be one weekend:
- a tiny butternut squash was beckoning to be sliced and pan-fried with just a touch of salt+pepper
- a cup or so of black rice bought on a whim from the bulk food store was waiting to be cooked
- last of the Pickled Pearl Onions needed to be used up to make room for others
- a quart jar full of 4-bean salad was developing flavor for over a week and ready to be enjoyed

Black rice was cooked in the rice cooker much like brown rice, with the last of the pickled pearl onions tossed in and a light sprinkling of salt.

Four Bean Salad: Soak and cook white beans, black beans, chickpeas, and pinto beans till firmly cooked, not mushy. Add some chopped zucchini and onions, if preferred. Toss with favorite balsamic vinaigrette.

I make a batch of this Bean Salad (3-bean, or 4-bean, sometimes even 5-bean) on and off and leave it in the fridge to use as salad topper for quick meals - adds the proteins and carbs to the green salad and doubles as a dressing/vinaigrette.