When it comes to food, my husband and I are polar opposites—we’re both big eaters and appreciate great food, but our ideas of comfort food are totally different. Even when we get takeout for dinner, we often disagree on what we should order—I’m firmly in the Noodles of Any Kind camp, and he’s more into pizza or a hot Italian sub. Luckily, last summer we discovered a Panda Express right next to a Firehouse Subs so we mobile order both and pick them up in one fell swoop. #marriage

All of that is to say that this recipe is my kind of dish, and it’s one that I know I’ll get to enjoy in its entirety (although Sophie does seem to take after me when it comes to rice and noodles) because Rob is just not interested in brothy rice, which is what this is. I wouldn’t call it soup, but it should be served with enough broth that you need a spoon to slurp up any remaining liquid in your bowl.

This is basically a non-recipe, but when I shared a photo on Instagram Stories the other day (I made it a week ago when I had a migraine) I got a lot of inquiries so I thought I’d make it again (twist my arm) and share a full post.

White rice (I prefer jasmine although this time I used Basmati—you could do any rice you like) gets toasted in a pot with a few smashed garlic cloves and lots of butter before simmering away in chicken stock. Once it’s done cooking you simply spoon it into bowls and pour a little more chicken broth over it, depending on how soupy (or not) you want it.

I like to top it with whatever herbs I have in my fridge—my favorites are cilantro and green onion but chives are good too. A little spritz of fresh lemon, lime, soy sauce, or even a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper would be amazing. Sesame seeds? Truffle oil? A soft-boiled egg, perhaps. Find your favorite combo—this buttery, garlicky, brothy rice can be whatever you want it to be.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1-2 cloves of garlic, smashed

• 1 cup of rice

• 2 cups of chicken stock (use veggie stock to make vegetarian), plus more for serving

• Salt, to taste

• Desired toppings (herbs, onion, citrus, etc.)

Instructions:

1. In a medium pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic cloves and sauté for 3-4 minutes, or until fragrant. Add uncooked rice and stir well to combine, cooking another 2-3 minutes. Add a large pinch of salt and continue to stir.

2. Reduce heat slightly and pour in the 2 cups of chicken stock. Stir once more and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or according to package directions (I usually cook just a few minutes less, or at least check on it a few minutes before the recommended cook time since I toast the rice before boiling).

3. Fluff rice with a fork (optional: remove garlic from pot) and add more salt if necessary. Spoon into bowls and top with more broth, then sprinkle herbs before serving.

This post is sponsored by Madison Reed.

For the longest time (I’m talking 10 years), I dyed my hair a slightly darker shade of brown, and then more recently I spent a few years (and way too much money) going lighter and exploring the whole ombre trend. With a toddler keeping me busy these days, I’m in a season of more low-maintenance hair care, having just chopped a good 6 inches of length and staying away from any color regimen that includes a full afternoon in a salon chair.

Because of that, I was really excited to get an invitation to try out Madison Reed Color Bar in San Francisco. Madison Reed focuses on high-quality ingredients and a high-end salon experience, but they get you in and out in much less time than other salons and also focus more on roots, gray coverage, and all-over color (so it may not be the right place if you’re looking for something more high maintenance).

Because it’s been a while since I got my hair colored, I decided to go with the color-reviving gloss in the shade Espresso, which is a really nice cool brown shade that’s just slightly darker than my natural color.

The colors and glosses are all pre-mixed and ready to go, which is so nice because you can buy them (and all of their products) on Madison-Reed.com (use code MEGANCOLOR for free shipping). They sent me home with a tube of the Espresso gloss so I can do it myself at home in 6-8 weeks. The gloss is just $25 online! I think their prices are so reasonable for the wonderful servicethey provide, not to mention the gorgeous space!

There are also do-it-yourself hair drying stations in every salon that you can use for free, or you can add a blow out to any service for just $35—their products seriously felt so good and smelled amazing! I’m a sucker for a blow out so I truly felt like I was living my best life in there on a Saturday morning with my little head massage and double espresso.

If you live near one of their locations, you should totally try them out! And if you don’t, make sure to check out their website and shop around if you’re looking for a new shampoo or conditioner, styling product, or one of their many lovely glosses and permanent dyes. Use the code MEGANCOLOR for $20 off your first roots treatment in a salon or for free shipping on your next Madison Reed online purchase.

Thank you Madison Reed for having me! I can’t wait to try the at-home color and hopefully visit again soon.

Photos by Cue the Light for Freckled Italian.

The best thing I did in the past few months was finally learn how to walk my dog with one hand and push a stroller with another—that may sound silly but Ender is a super high-energy pup and if he doesn’t get enough exercise it can be a struggle.

For the first few months of Sophie’s life, I’d wear her in a baby wrap and walk Ender and it was great—we’d get out of the house for 30-40 minutes, sometimes even an hour every day, she would sleep on me, and he would get his exercise; but as Sophie got bigger it became harder to manage them both that way. After a few weeks of trying to walk him early before anyone in my house woke up, I decided to just get over it and walk Ender with the stroller—something I always found really intimidating.

The first few times didn’t exactly go smoothly, but after a few walks we started to get the hang of it, and now we get a good 2-3 miles in pretty much every day, which has been so nice for all of us. Sometimes I’ll call my mom or a friend to catch up while I’m walking, but most of the time I listen to one of my favorite podcasts, which I wanted to share here—which is also why I’m telling you this story about walking the dog.

So without further ado, my five favorite podcasts:

• The Bon Appétit Foodcast: I don’t listen to every episode of this show, but the ones I do listen to I always enjoy so much. I consume Bon Appétit content on pretty much every channel they create it for: Instagram, YouTube, I’ll even buy a copy of the magazine if I’m in an airport and my flight gets delayed. So it was only a matter of time before I started listening to their podcast as well. I feel like I know the people who work at BA, and their enthusiasm and passion for food really speaks to me. Who wants to listen to someone talk about rice for an hour? I do.

• Getting Curious: Jonathan Van Ness is like my imaginary friend, except he’s real, he just doesn’t have any idea who I am. I think he is so sweet and funny and I love listening to him ask people questions on this show. I love that he is loud and outrageous and has the funniest expressions but also really does his research and leads some super interesting conversations with experts on a really wide spectrum of topics. It’s so interesting, and I’ve learned so much.

• Pod Save America: I listen to this podcast first when I’m walking and always when I’m driving anywhere—I’m at the point where this is really the only way I want to hear the news and learn about current events. These guys are funny (never have I ever fast forwarded through one of their ads), smart, and well-connected and I love hearing from them a couple times a week. They’re also in the process of interviewing every Democratic nominee for President right now and releasing them as separate episodes, which is super interesting and valuable to me.

• Yo, Is This Racist?: I learned about Andrew Ti on an episode of Getting Curious last year and finally started listening to this podcast last month. He and his co-host Tawny Newsome answer listener questions about racism, and they are so hilarious but also unapologetic about calling out racism even just in our casual, day-to-day lives. I really can’t recommend this show enough, especially if you’re white. There are so many things I used to not notice or—even worse—ignore and this podcast has really taught me so much about speaking up in the face of white supremacy (while making me laugh out loud in the process).

• Cafeteria Christian: This was a podcast I really needed. If you’ve been here for a while you know I was raised in the Catholic church but don’t really identify as Catholic anymore. For a long time I wasn’t sure if I even identified as Christian. When this podcast came out and announced that it was a show for “people who like Jesus but aren’t so sure about some of his friends,” I knew I had to subscribe. From forgiveness to prosperity gospel and purity culture to mental health and even abortion, Natalia and Nora tackle everything through the lens of progressive Christian-ish-ity.

What are you listening to these days?