I invented this recipe one evening at Brenda‘s when we had leftover sticky rice we wanted to use up. It was deeeeelicious, probably mainly because there is so much butter involved. But as Bonnie and Sonja are fond of reminding me (bless them both) according to Nourishing Traditions, butter is a health food! I really need to read that book one of these days.

Anyway, this is a yummy side dish. We gobbled it up with baked apricot-glazed chicken breasts and roasted asparagus. Well, most of us gobbled it up; Bug declared she didn’t like the butter rice and wanted plain sticky rice. Brenda, Annalie, Elliora and I were all fine with that since it meant more butter rice for us!

All measurements are approximations because I didn’t measure anything when I made it. But I think this is the kind of recipe you can adjust to your own liking, anyway. Please note that you really should be using butter, not margarine. Margarine is NOT a health food, and—perhaps more importantly—it’s not nearly as delicious as butter. If you cannot eat dairy, by all means use coconut oil instead, or an equivalent amount of olive oil.

Garlicky Butter-Thyme Rice
Serves 4-6

• 3-4 cups cooked rice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp dried thyme
• sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

In a medium stock pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. (The olive oil has a higher smoke point than butter and helps prevent burning.) Once the butter is melted, add the garlic and saute briefly, till it smells delicious and garlicky.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the rice. Cook stir for a few minutes, till the rice is all coated with oil/butter and there are no large clumps left.

Add the broth (and dried thyme leaves, if that’s what you’re using) and turn heat down. Cover and simmer on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, till almost all the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and add fresh thyme leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let sit another five minutes or so before serving.

Troy and I made these for a late dinner last night, and they probably took twice as long to assemble and bake as they did to eat. But they were so delicious we didn’t even care. And then we made them again for dinner tonight.

Black-Bean Oven Nachos

• tortilla chips—preferably scoops*
• salsa
• can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• sliced black olives
• chopped avocado
• grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese*
• minced cilantro

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup because scrubbing melted cheese off metal is no fun.

Place as many chips as you want on the foil-lined baking sheet. It’s okay if they’re touching but try not to let them overlap. The point of these is that each chip is a little individual serving.

Spoon a bit of salsa into each scoop. Add a few black beans, one or two sliced olives, a chunk of avocado, and a sprinkle of grated cheese to each scoop. Sprinkle cilantro over the top of the whole shebang.

Stick in the oven and check every 5 minutes till the cheese is melted.

Notes
* We used baked tortilla scoops for the chips to make it easier to load them with good stuff, but regular flat chips would work too. It just might be a little trickier to keep the toppings on.
* I know the cheese that comes already grated in the bag is easy, but please don’t use it. There’s cornstarch on it to keep it from sticking together but it doesn’t melt very well.
* The way we made these, they’re vegetarian. But if you wanted to cook some ground beef with chopped onion and minced garlic and season it with cumin and chili powder, and then put a spoonful on each chip, I wouldn’t stop you.

Note: I interviewed Annalie for this post back in February or March, wrote it up and added photos and everything, and then…got stalled. What stalled me? I needed to take one photo of a self-portrait drawing Annalie did that was hanging in my kitchen. That is my life right now: I’m going in a million directions all the time and couldn’t even manage to take a photo—of something I see every day—for months. Sheesh.

On with the interview!

:: :: :: :: ::

What is your name?

Annalie.

How old are you?

Six.

Where do you live?

Washington, D.C. Well, actually we live in [Town], [State].

Do you have any pets?

Yes.

Wanna tell me about them?

Yes. I have two pet cats. Their names are Katy and Lily, and they’re very sweet. They’re both girls, and Katy really likes to spend time with me; Lily, not so much. But Lily really likes it when I scratch her belly!

Who do you like to play with?

I like to play with Bug, and Suki and Amber, and I like to play with Gabby and Annie. Sometimes I like to play with Mackenzie. She isn’t as rough as some kids. Also Christa and Cassie and Jack and Morgan and Dylan. And Daddy! I like to play with Daddy, and Elliora.

What’s your favorite cereal?

Hmmm…Lucky Charms!

What’s your favorite vegetable?

I like carrots because they’re good plain and with ranch, and also good cooked. I also like peas; they taste good plain and cooked. This is an odd thing to tell people, but I also like peas sometimes in ranch dressing. It’s good, you should try it!

What’s your favorite drink?

I like…lemonade, and I like root beer, and sometimes chocolate milk. Oh, and I like Kool-Aid! Ah, the sweet taste of Kool-Aid.

What’s your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid?

Fruit punch. For the record, I really like the kind you drop in the little tablet and you see it fizz up and evolve into the whole drink!

What’s your favorite snack?

Strawberry cream cheese roll-up, and crackers and cheese. I like simple kinds of crackers, like Club Crackers or Ritz, and cheddar cheese.

What’s your favorite toy?

I like a lot of toys, that’s hard!

Well, I just remembered I need to put the cookie dough in the fridge. Hang on a sec.

That’s good, I can think about it for a minute then.

Okay, did you think of a favorite toy?

I did think of a type of toy I really like, but it’s not really a specific toy. I like toys you can play with in pools like goggles and flippers. I especially like goggles because you can put them on and see underwater!

What’s your favorite TV Show?

Wild Kratts. And I like Johnny Test, Pokemon, Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, Chuck, and Dragonball Z-Kai. Did you write all those down?

What’s your favorite movie?

I like Tangled, and I also like Space Chimps.

What’s your favorite game?

Angry Birds. And I also like, um…the game I almost always play with Daddy, the car-racing game. It’s one where you can drive anywhere, like off-road and up the mountains, and you can do leaps. Sometimes you can feel it in the game controller when you jump off things! It’s kind of funny.

What’s your favorite book?

The Boxcar Children. It starts out a bit sad, but then it ends really happy. And one of the girls’ names is Violet, which is my sister Elliora’s middle name!

What’s your favorite restaurant?

Ooh, I like a lot of restaurants. That one in Omaha we go to a lot, what’s it called?

Wheatfields, the one with the fountains?

No, the one we go to with Uncle Ben a lot, where sometimes we can get balloon animals?

Oh, Spaghetti Works?

Yeah, Spaghetti Works! And I like Wheatfields too. They have fondue, and the big paintings, and the fountain! I love that place. Maybe we could go there for my actual birthday dinner, since we’ll be in Omaha?

Sure, we can do that.

(We did!)

Can we get cheese fondue?

Yes we can.

I love that! I cannot get enough of that.

What’s your favorite holiday?

My favorite holiday iiiiiizzz…Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. Because on Christmas you sometimes get to go sledding, and you get Advent calendars, and you get to open presents right away in the morning, even in your pajamas! And on Valentine’s Day, sometimes you get Valentines and gifts, and you can make cookies. And on Easter you get to go Easter-egg hunting. Sometimes on Easter my mommy gets me and Dad special baskets, and she’ll probably get a little basket for Elliora this year too.

What’s your favorite animal?

Horses. I like horses.

If you could change your name, what name would you choose?

I would choose…[thinking]…Crystal! It’s a pretty name, isn’t it?

What do you love about each person in our family?

I love that Elliora is a cute baby, and I’m glad that Katy and Lily are nice and gentle and they love me. And I’m glad that Daddy is a funny guy and he almost always tickles me, it’s so fun. And I’m glad that Mommy’s cooking is delicious, and she is really good at making me birthday cakes. They taste the best when they’re made by my mom—not just any old mom, MY mom.

Aw, thanks. I’m happy you like my cakes.

And remember that one time you made those mini pumpkin cheesecakes? Those were soooo good.

Thanks!

And I’m glad that Aurora is one year old and she’s cute and adorable and can walk now! I’m glad she’s my cousin. I can’t wait till the next time I get to see her!

What do you love most about yourself?

Well, that’s hard.

Why, because you like so many things about yourself?

No, because if I say things I like about myself, it’s sort of like I’m saying, “I’m pretty and you’re not!”

You mean like bragging?

Yeah. I just don’t think it would be very polite, would it?

Well, there’s a difference between bragging and just saying things you’re good at.

I guess so.

So is there anything you think you’re good at or that you like about yourself that you can say without bragging?

I think I’m good at making pancakes. I’m a good cook, when I have help from you. And I’m good at coloring, and I’m also good at playing Angry Birds.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Hawaii.

Well, we’re not gonna make it to Hawaii this year. But I think we are going to visit Erin and Rocco in Oregon, how does that sound?

Good!

What are some of your wishes for this year?

This year I wanna have a Zoobles treehouse. And I wish I could see Niagara Falls! That would be the funnest thing in the entire world. And I want to lose more teeth! Another one is loose, I think.

Thanks for the interview, Annalie!

You’re welcome, Mama.

Annalie’s self-portrait, age 6y8m

Inspiration for this interview originally came from New Year’s Interview for Kids at Blissfully Domestic (via The Crafty Crow).

I did this interview in 2009 and 2010 too, though I published them in a much more timely manner both those times.