(Just barely) Food Friday: Pork kebabs and sesame rice

Well, I've just been a little bundle of productivity this week. Another freelance project came into my inbox, about Columbus' art scene this time. It's a tight deadline, but it should be a lot of fun to write. (For those of you who were interested in the fashion piece I mentioned a while back, that link will be up here soon!) Anyway, I stayed home tonight to tackle some stuff, get a head start on this project and have a long-overdue Skype date with by bff Emily...and I've only just now realized that I haven't yet posted the recipe I wanted to post today!

So here's a Food Friday post, just a half-hour shy of Saturday. This is slightly adapted from a Real Simple magazine recipe. Sorry for the poor photo; Matt and I were halfway through this meal when I realized it was a) good enough to blog and b) hadn't been blogged yet! Matt graciously allowed me to take pictures of his food, since his plate still had all the ingredients on it (I had already eaten all my pork).


Ingredients:
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 boneless pork chops, about one inch thick
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 5 or 6 green onions
- sesame seeds
- kebab skewers (we have metal ones, but wood ones will work too)

If you're using wood skewers, soak them in water for at least 15 minutes. While they're soaking, preheat your oven to 450 degrees (make sure the top rack is on the highest slot) and bring two cups of water to a boil in a pot.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, chop the bell pepper and green onions into one-inch pieces, and cut the pork into one-and-a-half-inch pieces.

When the water starts boiling, also add a healthy dash of salt, the cilantro and the butter. Once the butter's melted, add the rice, then cover and simmer over low heat until the rice is cooked (usually about 15-20 minutes or so).

While the rice is cooking, combine the hoisin sauce and rice vinegar (both of which can be found in the Asian or international section of most grocery stores) in a bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil, then thread the pork and veggies onto the skewers and place on the foil. Drizzle with half of the hoisin mixture and bake for about five minutes. Turn the skewers, drizzle again and bake for another four minutes or so. (Don't worry if the pork is a teensy bit underdone in the center; new studies have shown that it's perfectly safe to eat pork slightly rare. And that's always better than overdone and chewy!)

Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds over the skewers and over the rice. Cause sesame seeds are delicious and there's basically no such thing as too much sesame, if you ask me.

I love this meal because it's so freaking easy, and it's fast, and it's delicious. As evidenced by the fact that I was halfway through it before I realized photos were necessary. Enjoy!