The recipe for Basmati and Wild Rice with Chickpeas, Currants and Herbs appears later in the post. I served it with homemade hummus, carrots and cooked asparagus.
Over my coffee this morning, I was reading the Boston Sunday Globe, including the magazine section, which included this article. When people hear what I cook for dinner, I get the typical "My kids would never eat that." After reading the article, I hear what some people are saying - their kids are picky. And in order to make dinner life more pleasant, parents cook what the kids want to eat, typically chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, pizza, etc. When my kids were young (under five), I cooked two meals - an adult meal and a kid meal. As the kids got older, and were exposed to more and more food, I stopped. I declared in my own house, once the little one started kindergarten we were done with kid food (yes, no chicken nuggets for dinner) at the daily dinner. Of course, if I served chicken or fish, I would make a vegetarian dish for my husband, however it was very similar to the meat based dish. When designing meals, I tried to include one element that each kid liked (my daughter didn't like rice for a long time). But you were expected to put a little of everything on the plate. As they got older, you were expected to try a little of everything on the plate. And now, at ages 9 and 13, they are expected to eat what is on the plate. Sure, it creates some "I don't like X" however they know they can either eat, or not eat. However, if the kids decide not to eat, dinner is over. After five years of doing this, each kid has skipped dinner less than five times. Of course if the new recipe is horrible (both parents deem it horrible), then there is ice cream for all!
I also want to share one other experience before I post the recipe. Back when my oldest attended preschool birthday parties the standard party food was pizza, fruit and cake. My son did not eat pizza. I did not bring another food with me. He just ate the fruit (or veggies) and didn't say anything. (He didnt' eat the cake either but that is another story). One day in first grade he attended a soccer party after school. At 5 PM, I picked him up and he said "How come you never serve pizza? It is sooooooooo yummy." Turns out he was so hungry from playing soccer for an hour, he didn't care what he ate, so he accepted the slice of pizza. You never know.
Here is the recipe that I promised, adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook.
1/3 cup wild rice
2 1/2 T olive oil
1 cup basmatic rice
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
one 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed
3/4 cup sunflower oil
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp flour
2/3 cup currants
2 T fresh chopped dill
salt and pepper
In a small pot, put the wild rice with two cups of water. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 40 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In other pot, put 1 T olive oil and heat on high. Add rice and some salt, and stir for 2 minutes. Then carefully add boiling water and salt and stir. Cover and turn to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Then remove the pot from the heat, cover the lid with a clean towel and cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
Put the onion and flour in a small bowl together and toss.
Heat the 1.5 T of olive oil in a saucepan over high. Add cumin seeds and curry powder and stir. Then add chickpeas and salt. Stir quickly and remove from heat.
Put the chickpeas in a large mixing bowl, add the wild rice and basmati rice. Clean saucepan, and then put sunflower oil and heat over high heat. When hot, add 1/3 of the onions and watch. After 4-5 minutes take out the onions and put on a paper towel on a drying rack to drain. Continue with another 1/3 of the onion, and then finish the last third. Sprinkle onion with a small amount of salt.
Put the onions and currants in the bowl with the chopped dill. Stir and serve!
