Man. I just finished eating one of these for lunch and my suspicions have been confirmed — I’m going to be eating a LOT more of them.
I first was inspired to make this little rice bowl over the holiday, when Dave and I were having a little burst of culinary creativity. In one day, we brewed a batch of beer (our first all grain batch, an ESB!), made limoncello and migas for breakfast… but lunch started to roll around and all that activity had me craving a light but protein-packed meal.
And while you don’t have to do it this way, the salmon in this rice bowl is actually LOX – yep, it’s that easy. If you play this right, the only thing you have to pay attention to cooking is the egg 🙂
I’ve been thinking a lot about why I blog — it’s been a while since I started – maybe five years?! – and it’s had its ups and downs. There have been times when I wasn’t very good about posting, and there were times when I was posting almost every day (I can’t believe I pulled that off, but my job wasn’t super demanding at the time). A few times a week, I think, is ideal.
I started this blog in the first place to share recipes because I found so much joy in making something fun for dinner and sharing it with my husband. We still cook together whenever we’re home and have a fun time doing it – I think we spend more time in our kitchen together than any other non-bedroom room in the house.
What that has morphed into, or maybe what it has always been rooted in, is wanting to inspire other people, as well. I want everyone to be able to get excited about making great food and cocktails and really enjoying them – be it healthy or an indulgence. AND, the icing on the cake would be if my readers were then able to improvise. You like this salmon bowl? I bet you can add a new protein and a fun sauce and make a totally different meal.
Anyway, after thinking through this, I’m feeling a ton of new energy about creating recipes and writing. I think you’ll be seeing a lot more of me this year and I’m going to work hard to make sure that happens.
But first, dinner. Am I right? 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup of short-grain or medium-grain white rice (it's even better with leftover rice from the day before)
- 2 oz of cured salmon or lox
- 1/2 avocado
- Nori sheet (available in the asian aisle of most megamarts)
- Cucumber
- Sesame Seeds
- Egg
- Each morning I'll fill up a third of a small cereal bowl with cold, leftover rice. From here, it's all about the toppings and commitment to Japanese-Jewish fusion. Dream about the day you can eat a breakfast of sashimi-grade salmon, but for now, top the rice with two to three pieces of cold-smoked salmon instead. I definitely prefer Nova lox for this bowl, because it doesn't assault you with smoke. ACME Smoked Fish's Nova lox is my salmon of choice. After the rice and salmon, add a quarter of a sliced avocado to the bowl. (Note: This bowl is infinitely riffable. Sometimes I forego salmon for fried eggs, because runny yolks are where it's at.)
- Here's where you'll get fancy. Cut (or tear) about half of a toasted nori sheet into thin strips to garnish, add one or two umeboshi plums for a tangy-sour-salty punch (I love Ozuké's, because they're sweeter and juicier than traditional umeboshi), and season generously with toasted black and white sesame seeds and soy sauce to taste.
Instructions
- Slice 1/2 cucumber as thin as possible, and springkle with a heavy pinch of salt. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- Soft boil an egg: bring a pot of water to a boil, add an egg and turn the temperature down to a bare simmer. Put the lid on and let cook, undisturbed, for 7 minutes. Move the egg into a ice water bath and peel once cool enough to handle.
- Start your bowl with 1 1/2 cups of leftover rice. Layer on 2 oz of cured salmon, 1/2 avocado sliced thinly, a nori sheet cut into thin strips, the cucumber slices, and the egg.
- Sprinkle on sesame seeds and serve.
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