When it comes to the technical aspects of how things work, I am not by nature an inquisitive person.  I am perfectly happy to accept the electrical grid and internal combustion engines on blind faith.  This particular aspect of my personality is immensely aggravating to Mike, who builds servers from scratch and knows what a torque wrench is.  Every March, our differing level of interest in technical detail boils over into the Annual Tax Software Fight, held in my parents' basement as we prepare our taxes.  I am perfectly happy to input the numbers from our various W-2's and 1099's, sign on the dotted line, and be done with the whole process until next year.  Mike, on the other hand, seems to relish the opportunity to dive into the intricacies of the U.S. tax code by clicking every single "learn more" link that the software offers and then browsing the relevant rules on the IRS website.  I don't understand why he can't just trust the tax software and be done already; he can't comprehend how I can possibly submit something to the IRS without understanding the logic behind the calculations.  We do eventually finish our tax return, after lots of whining, passive aggressive sniping, and a brief intermission during which I stomp upstairs and my mom makes me a blended coffee drink.

My approach to cooking isn't all that different from my approach to taxes.  After establishing that a recipe is well-written and seems to make logical sense, I blithely follow along, without questioning why I need to dissolve cold cubes of butter into warm milk or use non-iodized salt.  But once in awhile, the directions are so unusual that even my curiosity is piqued.  Such is the case with the vegetable jollof rice recipe from Crock-Pot Vegetarian Recipes: not only does the recipe instruct you to toss the eggplant with salt and let it sit for an hour before rinsing and drying it, it also calls for "converted rice" (Mike: "Does that mean our rice has found religion?").

A brief Google search revealed that the rationale behind the tossing eggplant with salt is to draw the bitter liquid out of an older eggplant (and in Minnesota in April, any eggplant that you can acquire will have quite a few miles on it).  Salting also improves the texture of the eggplant, preventing it from becoming overly soggy.

As for the rice, I found a definition of converted, also known as parboiled, rice on Wikipedia: "rice that has been boiled in the husk."  According to Wikipedia, this process changes the texture of the rice, making it harder and, I would theorize, better able to withstand the longer cooking times of slow cooker recipes.

Although I still couldn't care less about the contents of 26 U.S. Code § 223, discovering the "why" behind the salted eggplant and converted rice in my vegetable jollof rice recipe was satisfying.  It even inspired me to look up what a torque wrench is (having the remotest idea of what one would use such a tool for is a whole other story).

Adapted from Crock-Pot Vegetarian Recipes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

 

• medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups dry converted rice
• 1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable broth

Place the eggplant in a large colander in sink.  Toss with 1 teaspoon of salt and let stand for one hour.  Rinse the eggplant with cool water and pat dry with paper towels.

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add one tablespoon of oil and tilt to coat evenly.  Add the eggplant and cook, stirring frequently, until eggplant is lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Remove eggplant from skillet and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet and tilt to coat evenly.  Add the onion, carrots, pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes.  Place vegetable mixture in slow cooker.  Add rice, chili powder, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon of salt and mix thoroughly.

Drain the tomatoes into a colander held over a 2-cup measuring cup.  Set the drained tomatoes aside.  Add enough water to the tomato juice to measure 2 cups and add juice-water mixture to the slow cooker.  Add broth and drained tomatoes to the slow cooker and mix thoroughly.  Add prepared eggplant, cover, and cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the rice has absorbed the liquid.

Stir to evenly incorporate the vegetables into the rice before serving.