Sesame Black Rice

Oh, Readers--I have not forsaken thee! Well, I have kind of forsaken thee but I have good excuses and here they are:

1. My new job draws on my writing skills, not my cooking skills. This means that I no longer carry The Gourmet Cookbook with me to work (although my new co-workers would surely be intrigued).

2. My private cooking clients have dietary needs that just aren't represented in The Book.

What this means is that my creative time in front of the stove is drastically reduced, but it's not completely gone--I also have half shares in both a farm program and a fishery so each week I say to myself, "what the heck am I going to do with all this mizuna?" and "who knew fish guts were so yucky?"

But I'm also using this small window of opportunity to explore new recipes (and yes, I still have a backlog that I haven't written about but jeez it seems so long ago!) So here I give you, as something that goes really well with grilled cod, Sesame Black Rice.

Isn't that pretty? Don't you think it would be striking against something white like fish or scallops? You're right, it is, and the preparation, which is so simple, goes like this--boil until tender, then toss with 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and you've got one good looking side dish.

Hey, you're thinking, where do I get me some of that black rice? Look around in specialty food shops, health food stores, or if you're lucky, the exotic section of your supermarket. It's not all that easy to find--I happened across it in Lula's--a fancy gourmet store in downtown Rockport and I snatched it up because I knew I'd want it for this recipe. If all else fails, look online.

And if you have any bright ideas for mizuna PLEASE pass them my way!