Quick Din Din

When I got up this evening to make something for dinner, I had it in mind to do something quick: reheat some leftovers or make some Ramen (you can tell I haven't been poor very often or for very long, as I still like the stuff).
As I was puttering around the kitchen, I remembered that I was going to share some of my Costco-sized bag of basmati rice with a friend. In the process of putting it in a Tupperware for her, I caught the wonderfully nutty scent of the basmati.

I certainly wasn't going to settle for Ramen after that, now was I?



I cooked the rice...



And added it to broccoli and mushrooms, cut small and sautéed in toasted sesame oil, along with a couple of beaten eggs. In retrospect, the amount I made would have been better proportioned with three or four eggs, but they're hard to add in a second batch. Live and learn.

The spicing was tricky for some reason. I didn't want to go to my old standbys (French or Italian seasonings) and I'm not a big fan of the Five Spice powder (at least when I use it, probably incorrectly), so I used salt, pepper, sesame seeds (next time, toasted ones), ginger, a sprinkling of parsley and a few (maybe ten) caraway seeds. Final touch was a little soy sauce.
It was nice and savory. Nothing too "loud." The sesame came out very nicely. I particularly like sesame and basmati together -- I think they compliment each other.

So here was dinner. Much better than leftovers or Ramen: