Bowls used to evoke visions of Oliver Twist holding one while posing that fateful request: "Please sir, I want some more." But Dickens' famous waif has been pushed aside in my mind by another Brit, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, who poses on the cover of her 2015 cookbook holding a stack of pristine white bowls in her hands.
"If I could, I'd eat everything out of a bowl," Lawson writes in Simply Nigella, in which she gives what she calls "bowlfood" a chapter of its own. "For me 'bowlfood' is a simple shorthand for food that is simultaneously soothing, bolstering, undemanding and sustaining."
The word might also be considered shorthand for a new way of eating -- as the bowl takes over the dinner plate as the meal vessel of choice in restaurants and at home, it has come to mean a category of food, with all the elements of a meal together.
Lawson describes this as a "nonrecipe recipe" because she makes it differently each time, depending on what foods are available. Lawson usually uses raw radishes but writes that you may roast them, too: Halve the radishes, roast cut-side down with a little oil at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.
We added tofu to the dish for additional protein, but you may leave it out.
Rice Bowl With Ginger, Radish and Avocado
3/4 cup uncooked short grain brown rice
1 cup cold water
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
4 to 6 radishes
1 1/2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced or chopped
Grilled firm tofu, cubed, optional
Combine the rice and water in a heavy saucepan that comes with a tight-fitting lid; bring to a boil over high heat. Once it's bubbling, clamp on the lid, turn the heat down very low and simmer 25 minutes. Then turn off the heat, leaving the lid on, and let it stand for another 5 minutes, by which time the rice will be cooked -- but still nutty -- and the water absorbed.
Meanwhile, shave the ginger into very thin strips with a vegetable peeler. Cut the radishes into quarters or eighths lengthwise, depending on their size.
When the rice is cooked, spoon into a mixing bowl. Add the tamari or soy sauce and the apple cider vinegar; toss with a fork to combine. Do the same with the ginger shavings, radishes and seeds. Stir all but a little of the chopped cilantro into the rice, still using a fork.
Divide rice between 2 bowls; top with avocado. Add tofu, if using. Sprinkle with the remaining cilantro.
Makes 2 servings.
Food on 09/28/2016