Savory Rice Bowl

Ingredients:
    * 1 cup short-grain brown rice
    * 6 cups water
    * Regular or low-sodium soy sauce, for serving
    * Toasted sesame oil, for serving
    * Sesame and seaweed rice condiment (available at Asian markets), for serving
    * Finely chopped scallions, for serving
    * Finely chopped kimchi, for serving
    * Finely shredded nori, for serving

Directions:

1. Rinse the brown rice, if desired.
2. Combine the rice with 5 cups of water in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low; stir, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Ideally, the rice should have a porridgelike consistency.
3. Uncover; if you still see a fair amount of liquid in the saucepan, cook for 15 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, if the rice seems dry, add as much of the remaining 1 cup of water as needed; cook for 15 to 30 minutes (on low or medium-low heat) to achieve a porridgelike consistency.
4. To serve, divide the rice among individual bowls. Top with dashes of the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil, and with sprinkles of the sesame-seaweed condiment, scallions, kimchi and nori.

RESULTS: OK, so, my apologies. I found this recipe in the Washington Post food section, but it's actually, uh, from Gweneth Paltrow's cookbook. I KNOW! Ridiculous. And I'm not actually sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, all you're really doing it cooking brown rice until it's mush. I mean, if you notice, all the other ingredients, other than rice and water, are toppings. And it took a really really long time to make, and I'm not usually very patient when it comes to meals. I'm ok with something taking a long time if that's more or less active time, but just having a pot simmer on the stove for two hours, with nothing to do? Blech. On the other hand, the long cooking time made the rice actually really refreshing. It tasted cleaner. I ate it with some seaweed leftover from homemade sushi (nori), but the next time I make it, I plan on also using some homemade pickles slices.