A Pitch for a New (to me) Convenience Food

Plus ideas for what to do with it.

Hey,

How’s your kitchen? And how are you? Over here in mine, the urge to nest has been overwhelming—I’ve been spending every spare moment I have rooting out the recesses of every cabinet, crevice, closet, and cubbyhole I can get my pregnant little paws on. I can barely think about anything else, but clearing space for the little one joining our family so soon (hello, third trimester!) has been incredibly satisfying.

In all my rummaging, I found one area in my kitchen needs a little extra attention: the freezer. Freezers are, by nature, places where things pile up. But mine got particularly out of hand during my somewhat gruesome first trimester when I had zero desire to cook and little appetite to speak of. So I found myself ordering takeout and stashing leftovers in the freezer, stocking it with various convenience foods I thought Quentin might find enticing enough to cook for himself (he never did), and without the energy to maintain any semblance of order. Needless to say, I have not been keeping up with this particular kitchen “glow up.”

Because I’ll want the storage for some meal prepped postpartum meals and space to eventually stash breast milk (!!!), freeing up real estate in the freezer has felt especially urgent in my nesting frenzy. In making my way through the bits and bobs in there, I came across the subject of today’s letter:

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Frozen rice.

The Trader Joe’s frozen Organic Jasmine Rice, to be precise. I’m a noted rice cooker devotee, so to say I was skeptical of the little plastic bag encasing a rock-hard alabaster lump that would supposedly, after just three minutes in the microwave, transform into rice that was “not just cooked, but cooked to perfection” is an understatement.

But to my surprise (and begrudging delight) perfection it was. And truly, in just three minutes.

If you’re looking to hop aboard the frozen rice train as well, or happen to have some already hanging out in your freezer and are looking for some inspiration, here’s my plan:

• For our pre-Succession screening meal yesterday, I served simple seared salmon with a greens, feta, and cucumber salad (dressing: 1 part rice vinegar, 1 part neutral oil, and a big spoon of each dijon mustard, toasted sesame oil, and maple syrup, plus salt to taste). I rounded things out with a bag of rice.

• Later this week, I’m going to cook up a pouch, then pop it in a storage container in my fridge to stale-up a bit overnight. The next day, I’ll make this vegan fried rice.

• I’ve been super into various cocktails of cereal grains + yogurt + compote at breakfast time lately. I’ll likely turn my last rock hard rice baggie into a porridge of sorts using this guide as a template.

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Because the contents of this box very much live up to the promises made on its mauve-ish exterior (Simple. Delicious. Perfect. Now.) I can absolutely see frozen rice making its way into my regular dinnertime rotation, valuable freezer real estate and nesting urge be damned.

Pouch & side panel promises.

I’m curious, is this a convenience food you’ve tried before? Would you? Are there other easy foods you recommend having on hand for the hazy early postpartum days in my very near future? You can always shoot me an email here, respond in the comments section, or write to me via Instagram DMs.

Okay, as always, wishing you a well-fed week ahead.

xx

Erica

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