Lamb and rice pilaf that will get you out of the bathtub

Some weeks just suck. There doesn't have to be a particular reason for it, but everything can be clouded with a sort of general malaise, and things that normally don't make much impact can piss you off all day long. The cumulative effect of this over several days is that at the end of dinner one night, you'll announce that you're going to go hide from your family, in the bathtub.

I used to adore long hot baths, but they lost much of their appeal during my beached-whale stage (also known as the third trimester of pregnancy, when The Tub Just Wasn't Deep Enough). After the kids were born, I would spend my previously-luxurious baths making lists of all the things I could be doing instead of lolling in overpriced French bubbles. Then I realized I was mostly bored during long hot baths, and that was pretty much that: I can't stand to be bored.

Fast-forward to this point in my life, when all the normal busy-ness of life with 2 kids and 2 working parents has simply piled up. I love all the parts of my life - separately. The sum total is a little overwhelming most days. So I went to go hide in the bathtub. The prime 80s-era decor of the upstairs bathroom is far from soothing, but the fan is on the verge of giving up the ghost and drowns out sound from the rest of the house, and our water heater is ridiculously oversized for this house so we have virtually unlimited hot water. As I was lolling in my overpriced French bubbles and adamantly refusing to think about anything useful, the most marvelous smell wafted under the door....

We'd already eaten dinner so I assumed this was some sort of olfactory hallucination, a conjuring of the comforting dinner I wished I'd had. I have a great imagination but not this great - I actually got out of the tub before the water was cold and wandered downstairs to find a great big giant wonderful pan of this lamb and rice pilaf on the stove. My husband and son are going camping this weekendbut can't eat any of the food provided, so they're bringing a cooler full of things that keep well and taste good at any temperature. If I don't eat it all before they leave this weekend, this dish will fit the bill.

Lamb and Rice with Chickpeas 

5 cups cooked rice (we use long-grain white or basmati)
1/2 lb ground lamb
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/3 teaspoon cinnamon

In a Dutch oven or large skillet, combine the meat, onions, and garlic. Break the meat up as it cooks so there are no large lumps.

When the meat is almost completely browned, drain any fat and add the chickpeas. Stir in the seasonings and rice, and add salt and pepper to taste. You'll use more salt than you expect - usually close to a tablespoon.

This is wonderful hot, served with tzatziki. It's wonderful room temperature at a potluck. It's wonderful eaten cold straight out of the fridge. And it keeps forever. It makes a nice side dish to a more complicated meal, and all the food-allergic people can eat it safely; only the vegetarians will miss out.