Rice Medley —rsquo; The First Bowl of the Building Year

January 2029. The new year and the construction year. Carol had confirmed the contractor start date for May and the permits were all in order. It felt strange and right at once—the land had been mine for six years, I'd been cooking on it and planting it and gathering on it, and now there would be a house. The permanence of it was different from the barn and the fire circle in a way I was still getting used to thinking about.

Kai turned seventeen in December and was applying to colleges, which I hadn't noticed becoming relevant until it suddenly was. He'd been talking about ecology and agricultural sciences, which surprised exactly no one who had watched him spend his teenage years in gardens and food forests and reading field guides. He applied to a few places in Oklahoma and one program in Vermont that Lily had recommended—a sustainable agriculture program that she said was the best she knew of. I said: apply to all of them and then decide. He said: which would you choose? I said: the one that teaches you the most things you don't already know.

The food journal started its fourth volume in January. I made a note on the first page: this is the construction year. What gets built this year will outlast the journals. The journals document the building. Somewhere they overlap. That seems right. I made the Hoppin' John as I do every January first, and Kai ate a bowl, and Wren pointed at the bowl and said the word for beans, which she'd apparently learned from Hannah. That's a good omen for a new year.

The Hoppin’ John is the ritual I return to every January first — the black-eyed peas and rice together in one pot, earthy and filling and full of meaning. This year the bowl felt heavier and lighter at once: heavier because the construction year had a real start date now, lighter because Wren said the word for beans and it felt like the land itself was paying attention. This rice medley is the version I make when I want the grains to carry the weight of the occasion — slow-cooked, layered with whatever is on hand, the kind of thing that fills the kitchen with a smell that says: this year is already being built.

Rice Medley

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/4 cup wild rice
• 1 can (15 oz) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Sauté aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
2. Toast the rice. Add white rice, brown rice, and wild rice to the pot. Stir to coat in the oil and cook for 2 minutes, letting the grains toast lightly. This builds a nutty depth in the finished dish.
3. Add liquid and seasonings. Pour in the broth. Stir in smoked paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Simmer covered. Reduce heat to low, cover tightly, and cook for 30 minutes without lifting the lid. The varied rice types will finish together at this timing.
5. Fold in the beans. Remove lid and gently fold in the drained black-eyed peas. Replace lid and let rest off heat for 5 minutes so the peas warm through without breaking apart.
6. Fluff and serve. Fluff the medley with a fork. Taste and adjust salt. Spoon into bowls and top with chopped parsley. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 290 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 54g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 310mg