Shades of sunbeam
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 9:17PM 
It was Tuesday's dusk; the sun was on its way but hadn't quite left, and the night was at the door. That's when the rain arrived. Those last few glimmers of day hung in the wet air, and turned the raindrops to prisms and set our backyard aglow.
March rain is like the gentle hand of a parent on the shoulder of an eager child. It keeps us closer to home than we might like. It reminds us to please wait, only for a moment, to slow down and tread lightly as the world outside isn't ready just yet for our boisterous play.
Spring may be awake, but she still bears the imprint of her pillowcase upon her cheek. Soon she'll join us, in her finest dress in shades of sunbeam yellow.
In no time she will arrive, and our world will change. Spring is the most rambunctious of seasons, skipping across the landscape, with cascades of cherry blossoms tumbling from her hair and leaving trails of mossy green footprints.
In the blink of her eye, the Firsts of the season will be upon us. The first crocuses, drowsy headed and darling; the first evening walk when the breeze is mild and sweet; the first dinner eaten outdoors, preferably with strings of lights overhead.
And as we anticipate Spring's approach, we also mark the celebration of the Lasts of Winter. The last day to wear those woolen socks you loved in December but resent four months later; the last fire to crackle in the fireplace; the last of the Sunday roast suppers. Well maybe not the last, but at least the less frequent for those.
A habit of a meal for us, and for many; in our kitchen it is most usually the Zuni Café version, complete with the necessary bread salad.
It was during the stay of Mr. Winter that I ran into trouble, wanting rice not bread on a particular Sunday night. With that classic recipe as my inspiration, I served a brown rice salad rocky with almonds and tangy currants, with the spice of arugula there to light up everything. And while its bready predecessor has my lifelong devotion, I was pretty fond of how it turned out.
Now back to that night of that rain I mentioned to start. There was to be roast chicken for dinner. Without currants or arugula, I did have cranberries and parsley, and chose to build upon my previous improvisation. I included a pinch of ground coriander for good measure, bringing the subtle suggestion of grass and citrus beneath the direct flavours of clementine and fresh herbs. We were well fed.
In the end, the rain lasted the night, today we're again beneath its watery cloak, and tomorrow looks to be cold. But we have a date with warmer days penciled in our calendar.
It'll be soon enough, and we'll be ready.
Brown Rice for a March Evening
You'll note that there aren't quantities for many ingredients, and there is a reason for that. I treated our dish much like a salad, dressed with a deconstructed vinaigrette. But, you can easily consider this more like a pilaf, seasoning it instead with a subtle hand and omitting the vinegar, leaving the flavours more mellow and round.
You might think that there is a lot of parsley, and it is. It is an ingredient here, not a garnish or an accent. I like the effect of the whole leaves for their juicy crunch, but chop them roughly if you prefer.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 minced shallot
1 clove garlic, minced
A good pinch of ground coriander seed
1 cup brown rice, rinsed
1/2 cup raw nuts, I like a mixture of flaked almonds and whole cashews
1/4 cup dried currants or 1/3 cup dried sweetened cranberries
One clementine
Champagne vinegar, optional
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2-3/4 cup parsley leaves
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until soft but without colour, around 3 minutes. Add the garlic, season with salt and ground coriander, and cook for 30 seconds more.
Add the rice, stirring to coat each grain with the butter. Toast for around 30 seconds, then add water and cook according to your rice's package instructions.
Meanwhile, toast the mixed nuts in a dry pan over medium heat, tossing often. When well-toasted and bronzed in places, remove from the pan to a bowl to cool. Set aside.
When the rice is done, pour into a serving bowl and fluff with a fork. Add the dried fruit to the bowl and grate over some of the zest from the clementine (do this when the rice is still quite hot, the heat of the rice plump the fruit and will diffuse the oils from the rind). Squeeze over some of the juice from the clementine, a splash of Champagne vinegar, if using, and a drizzle of olive oil. Fork through again. Season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste.
Can be served immediately, warm or at room temperature. Stir in most of the nuts and parsley right before serving, saving some for garnish.
Serves 4.
Notes:
• I think this is especially good with a brown and wild rice blend; the wild rice adds an extra chewiness I like.
• Heidi has a wild rice salad that is served with goat's cheese, an idea I'll be borrowing in the future.
Reader Comments (38)
Brown rice and lots of parsley is one of those combinations that is so delicious and nourishing to me. It almost feels ascetic, but pleasingly so. I love your addition of the whole cashews, and citrus.
hmmmmmm this dish looks so tasty and healthy. i love how you're using all these winter flavours in a light, spring-y dish!
Oh, that third paragraph is a thing of beauty.
I love Zuni Cafe. I have only been there once and really enjoyed it. I am definitely going to try this!!
just the type of toothsome herbal salad i love. your writing is wonderful. can't wait to try this.
This is such a beautiful post, I love the way you describe the feeling of early spring, I always feel impatient in March, I can't wait to get outside and play!
Looks like the perfect early spring dinner-simple, hearty, and warming.
hi tara.
this dish looks amazing. i know what i'll be putting on my shopping list for sunday. and as always, i love your writing. xo
YUM!These are almost ALL of my favourite ingredients!
HUGS
Char
Tara, I read those first four paragraphs over and over. So perfectly and gorgeously put. I always feel so impatient with March - I am that overeager child! Thank you for making me slow down - at least for a moment.
oh tara, ever so poetic as usual. I like how you wrote it without measurements. So much of cooking is by personal preference, after being led by different inspirations.
This was like a little present at the end of my day. Love.
Tara, this takes my breath away. So so lovely. I am waiting as well.
Tara, I always feel a little giddy when I see you've posted, so eager to read your beautiful words. The way you've described early spring is so perfect.
I have heard so many incredible things about the Zuni cookbook, I must start making some of the recipes. This sounds like a fantastic dish, perfectly hearty for the lingering pre-spring frosts but light enough as we begin to shed the winter layers (and hopefully the pounds as well!)
This is so beautiful I just had to read certain paragraphs aloud to someone. That someone was my 6 year old son who happened to be sitting next to me! A little beyond him, I think, but I was happy just to share the beauty. The recipes sound so perfect for this time of year, too. Last weekend we were in shorts, now back to parkas for a few days...
You write achingly well :)
Ancy
The joy of the 'Lasts' and 'Firsts' is an extreme joy - agreed.
The dish looks wholesome and lovely. Thanks for sharing.
You are brilliant - in words and in the kitchen.
Hello everyone! You all are truly kind, and make me grin ear-to-ear for knowing you. I'm so happy to find that I'm not alone in my giddy expectation for spring. I am itching for the day when outside our windows is green, green, green.
Hope your weekend is splendid.
I'm loving that parsley is an actual ingredient here rather than a garnish...I"m in the parsley fan club. What a perfect bridge dish to spring...I've been doing a lot of hearty salads, breads, and tapenades lately to replace pastas and heavier dishes. Bring on the sunshine, the light, the fresh starts...
A lovely post, as usual. Spring indeed is a time of awakening.
And the salad looks wonderful. The clementine is an unusual addition. I agree about wild rice, have always loved it. I made a wild rice salad last week, but wasn't crazy about it. I'll have to tweak it a bit. Also think I'll check Heidi's.
so what i have been in the mood for lately. thank you!
One of the few food blogs that I read as much for the writing as for the food. The soul of both a chef and a writer . . .
Gorgeous. Those "lasts" are the things I'll miss most.... but they are also the things I'll look forward to most in the next cycle.
Love the wild rice in this dish -- makes everything a bit more rambunctious. Fit for spring.