Guest post by our dear friend Mine today!

Romeo and Juliet’s love. The old imperial palace in Beijing. Have you ever longed for these two forbidden things to be in your food? Then you’re in luck! This recipe uses FORBIDDEN RICE OOOOOOHHHHH SNAAAAP. AND have you ever wished for some unpredictability, some craziness in your food? Well you’re in DOUBLE LUCK because guess what, this recipe also uses WILD RICE DAAAAAAMNNNN GUUUURRRLLLL. And whaaaat?? Did I hear you say you want that to be HEALTHY??? Well you’re in TRRRRIPPLE COMBOOO LUCKKKK because this also uses QUINOOOOOOAAA OOOOOOOOHHHH.

Ahem. Yes this recipe calls for forbidden rice, wild rice, and quinoa, which tastes AWESOME but it’s not like you have to use all of these awesome ingredients. My friends Rachel and Rachel are on top of their grocery lists and always have lots of food to provide for perpetually hungry guests like me.  Lots of great food. On the other hand, I’m more of a scavenger who doesn’t like to go grocery shopping so often, resorting to eating dry cereal and popcorn for my three meals during final exam season. However, it would still be possible for me to make this recipe without all of the ingredients when my food stocks are low. This is the true beauty of this recipe.

For example, let’s say you only have one type of rice (or quinoa, or even pasta), a carrot, olive oil, salt, pepper, and some store bought pesto that you borrowed from your neighbour. That’s like, only half of the ingredients this recipe calls for, but you can still have this delicious dish for dinner! Prepare the rice, roast the single lonely wilted carrot, then just mix those two with the pesto and BOOM! You get a discount version of this recipe. Slowly but surely, your personal situation will improve as you recover from the horror of final exams (insert here any other traumatizing life events), and you will be able to gather more and more ingredients, until finally you have your life back together enough to make the basil from scratch AND have the two types of rice and quinoa.

This recipe will stick with you through thick and thin, through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and it will never abandon you. All you need to do is rely on this recipe. Actually, it’s not just a recipe for this beautifully photogenic dish, it’s a recipe for all those times when the dinner you prepare isn’t even photographable, is sad and dismal, and only uses the scraps found in your fridge. It’s your life, it’s your kitchen, and this recipe will support you, no matter what you’re currently going through. Hey, recipes can’t judge your life!

Happy holidays and all that jazz y’all. Keep on trucking!