Comfort Bowl

This started in my mind as a bit of an homage to Lebanese mujadara, the wonderfully comforting combination of rice, lentils and deeply caramelized onions. Based on my most recent recipes, I am apparently on a Middle Eastern flavors kick these days.

In this case however, I veered fairly dramatically out of the recipe's geographic zone, omitted the cumin, and this dinner became something of a riff on Japanese ochazuke instead, pouring hot sencha over the rice and lentils and topping the whole thing with a crispy-skinned grilled salmon fillet.

Still, since Lebanon is actually geographically in Asia despite how we tend to categorize it culinarily and politically, I hope I will be forgiven for my rather freewheeling trip across the continent. Especially because it was a darn good mashup.

The recipe below is just for the Comfort Bowl itself, which leaves you free to travel across Asia, or elsewhere, as your own culinary needs require.

1/4 cup Japanese short-grain rice

2 Tbsps brown lentils

1/2 small onion, halved, peeled and cut into thin half-moons

1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

Rinse the rice thoroughly, changing the water several times until it runs clear. Cover it with fresh water and soak the rice for one hour, then drain it for 30 minutes. Rinse the lentils separately.

Put the rice and lentils into your rice cooker, add the appropriate amount of water and cook according to the instructions for your particular brand of rice cooker. I used about half a cup of water, but all rice cookers are not created equal.

While the rice and lentils cook, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt and cook slowly, stirring regularly, until deeply caramelized. You want a mixture of soft, dark onion and some pieces with distinctly brown, crisp edges, so don't stop when the onions are merely soft and golden.

When the rice and lentils are cooked, add them directly to the hot pan of onions and toss thoroughly, making sure to scrape up all the oily, salty, caramelized bits. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve immediately as is, or do as I did and put the mixture into a deep bowl, pour hot green tea around it and top everything with a crispy-skinned grilled salmon fillet. Even with the fish on top, this is a comforting dinner that can be slurped up and eaten with a spoon. A runny egg on top instead could be good. Or you could stir in some leftover roast vegetables. The point is that you will feel better for eating this, no matter how you zhuzz (or don't zhuzz) it up.