There is chill in the air, rain on the streets, ghoulish treats on display, pumpkin spice on everything, and the wildest dressed people roaming the streets. All of these signs can only point to one holiday – Halloween. Growing up, Halloween was one of my top three favorite holidays (closely behind Christmas and Thanksgiving). I would anxiously count the days leading up to Halloween starting in September. I knew once school started, the shelves in stores would slowly switch from stocking school supplies to being filled with Halloween decorations. I loved browsing through stores throughout the months of September and October to see what kinds of cool decorations were out there for the year. I also used the time as an opportunity to scout out which candy treats I should start stocking up on, and which character I should become for Halloween that year. On the day of Halloween, I usually met up with some close friends and went trick or treating around my neighborhood in Brooklyn collecting as many treats as I could along the way. I continued this tradition year after year until I got to college. When I got to college, Halloween became meeting up with friends to go dancing instead of collecting treats. I transformed into a fairy using a pair of fairy wings I purchased at a local Rite Aid store in Brooklyn, a simple white shift dress, and some creative makeup. I would then meet up with some close college friends to go dancing at Halloween parties across Michigan campus. I saved the fairy wings for Halloween each year thereafter until after I graduated from college. Then, I traded my wings for food. Halloween post college was no longer an evening of going dancing. Instead, it became a night of gathering with friends and connecting over spooky, delicious foods. Meatballs and spaghetti became eyeballs and spaghetti. Smoked ribs got a new spooky name (usually in the form of a person’s name). Chicken wings turned into bat wings. Any food you can think of is transformed into a new creation with a spooky name. This year, Kevin and I celebrated Halloween early over the weekend with some ribs, wings, and sweet treats. Of course, with just the two of us, there were tons of food leftover. Even Kevin (an absolute meat lover) couldn’t finish all of the ribs. I ended up repurposing some leftover ribs from the evening before and using them to create my Southwest inspired fried rice. I named the fried rice southwest fried rice because of the ingredients incorporated into the rice. The fried rice was filled with corn, diced red pepper, diced onion, sliced scallions, minced garlic, homemade barbecue sauce, and of course, my spiced bbq spare ribs. The ribs added smoky, spicy, and savory notes to the fried rice. The corn, red pepper, and onion added a distinctive sweetness. Altogether, the fried rice became a medley of southwestern flavors. I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of this style of fried rice earlier. Halloween this year has been filled with strong winds and heavy rain. Instead of going out, I decided to stay in, devour some fried rice, and catch up on some of my favorite fall shows. Happy Halloween, friends! Hope you all have a spook-tacular Halloween filled with more treats than tricks.
For the southwest fried rice:
· 1 cup jasmine rice
· 1 cup water
· 3 tablespoons ketchup
· 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
· 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
· ½ teaspoon mustard powder
· ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
· ½ teaspoon garlic powder
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· ½ onion, diced
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 red pepper, diced
· 4 stalks scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal, white and green parts separated
· 4 ounces frozen corn kernels
· ½ rack of spiced bbq spare ribs cooked for 2½ hours, bones removed and meat roughly chopped
Directions:
1) Wash and rinse the jasmine rice. Heat a pot on medium-low heat. Add the jasmine rice and water. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, until rice is cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. If you have the time, prepare the jasmine rice the evening before and cool it in the refrigerator to use for the fried rice.
2) In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, mustard powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Set aside.
3) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Toss in the diced onion, minced garlic, and diced red pepper. Cook until aromatic, about 3-5 minutes. Add the white parts of the scallions. Cook for another minute. Fold in the frozen corn and chopped spiced bbq spare ribs. Cook all ingredients for about 2 minutes. Add the cooked jasmine rice and toss to coat the rice with the rest of the ingredients. Fold in the homemade barbecue sauce. Cook the rice for another 2-3 minutes until well incorporated. Turn off the heat and remove the fried rice from the stove. Top with the remaining green parts of the scallions.
4) As an optional step, you can serve the fried rice with some hot sauce or additional barbecue sauce.
Takeaways: The southwest fried rice is a great way to use up leftover ribs. The fried rice can be spiced up further with some hot sauce, diced green pepper, and black beans (to play up on the southwest theme).