Supper Last Night

Sometimes you just need a friendly nudge to come up with new idea for supper. Last night, with two teenage boys in the house, both in training for crew, I was looking for something tasty and filling.  A dear friend had recently reminded me of a lovely, Indian-inspired, chicken kebab dish that we had created during a Good Food Naturally cooking workshop.   That, and a fun spin on short grain brown rice — thanks to Heidi Swanson of Super Natural Cooking — and we were almost there.  To green it up I created a bright bok-choy salad with loads of crunchy radishes and cucumbers and a gently minted lime vinaigrette.

For the chicken:  I used skinless, boneless thighs.  I started marinating them in the morning (but as a little as an hour will do) in a cup or two of  full-fat plain yogurt, and  some toasted, crushed cumin seeds, corriander seeds and cardamom seeds (note, seeds not pods.  The seeds are small and black and are available at good spice shops. The pods are more widely available  and you can use those in a pinch), grated fresh ginger, grated garlic and a nice pinch of cayenne.  I skewered them with a cherry tomato or two and then cooked them under the broiler until done.   Obviously the timing on this will vary depending on your broiler.  Mine took about 5-7 minutes per side.

For the rice:  I used short-grain brown rice — which has a nice sticky quality to it, like sushi rice.  I like to rinse rice before using it.  Then I put 2 cups in a wide-bottomed saucepan with 3 cups of water, brought it to the boil, covered it and turned the heat to a simmer. A mere forty minutes later the rice was done and I fluffed in grated orange zest, a drizzle of soy sauce and a splash of rice wine vinegar.   (I actually made more than this so that there would be leftovers for a lunch-type breakfast!)

For the salad: I rinsed and chopped some baby bok-choy (super nutritious, and so happy in its raw state) and tossed the greens with a bunch of irresistibly pink radishes and a few cucumber coins.  I had mint on hand so I added a few leaves of that too, but dill would have been just as fun. Then I whisked together a bit of lime zest and juice, some rice vinegar, salt and a bit of olive oil. Not too much, mind you. Those lovely crunchies don’t want to be drowned in vinaigrette.

To paraphrase Gordon Ramsay:  “Supper? Done.”