Courtesy of the Washington Post and Deborah Madison–I use fresh jalapeños instead of serranos because Suzi says serranos make it too hot. I add pine nuts and walnuts. I use brown rice. I forgot the frozen peas, because I always forget the frozen peas. For the potluck, I made a quadruple recipe.

–Bruce

Neelam’s Festive Rice Pilaf

Serves 4 to 6

Vegetarian cookbook author Deborah Madison includes this colorful, fragrant, one-pot rice dish in her upcoming book, “Vegetarian Suppers From Deborah Madison’s Kitchen” (Broadway). The recipe, she writes, originated with Indian cook Neelam Bata, who suggests serving it with plain yogurt to which minced fresh ginger, mint, cilantro and scallions have been added. If you’re serving wine, Madison recommends a dry Pinot Gris from Alsace to stand up to the spices and fruit.

11/2 cups basmati rice

6 quarter-sized slices peeled, fresh ginger root

2 large cloves garlic, peeled

1 to 3 fresh serrano chili peppers, seeded and finely chopped

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dried blueberries

One 2-inch cinnamon stick

5 or 6 black cardamom pods, crushed lightly to break the shell

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 cups finely chopped fresh vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers of mixed colors, summer squashes

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Wash the rice in 3 or 4 changes of water or until the water runs almost clear. Then soak the rice in 2 & 3/4 cups water for about 30 minutes. While the rice is soaking, use a small spice grinder or a food processor to make a fine paste from the ginger, garlic and serrano chili peppers.

Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a 3-quart saucepan or a skillet over medium heat large enough to hold the rice. Add the almonds and pistachios and cook over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant and a few shades darker, about 1 minute. Add the raisins, cranberries and blueberries and cook for another minute. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the same pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon and cardamom and stir for about 1 minute. Add the cumin seeds — they should sizzle on contact with the hot oil — and the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger-garlic paste and turmeric, then add the vegetables and the peas and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in the rice and its soaking water, add the salt and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to its lowest setting, cover the pan (partially at first until the foam subsides, then snugly) and cook until the rice is done, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not stir the rice while it is cooking.

Remove from the heat and lightly fork in the reserved nuts and fruits.

Cover the pan and allow the rice to rest for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle the garam masala on top and serve.

Per serving (based on 6): 424 calories, 10 gm protein, 58 gm carbohydrates,

19 gm fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 10 gm saturated fat, 496 mg sodium, 8 gm dietary fiber

I hope that more people these days are beginning to learn about John Boyd and his interpreters. If so, it will be good for the USA and good for business.

Boyd was a USAF colonel who created the mathematical theory of energy maneuverability, and a seminal influence on the designs of the F-15, F-16, and F-18/A fighter aircraft.

After his retirement, he reflected deeply on war and human action, drawing from influences as diverse as Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz and devised the OODA loop (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) as a thinking tool for understanding strategy. His work was a key influence in the creation of Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1, Warfighting.

His students and successors have elaborated and applied his ideas to a variety of contexts, including to business. The value of quick thinking and flexible organization to business are discussed at considerable length in Chet Richards’ book Certain to Win

Richards has a presentation of these ideas available on his website. It’s worth viewing.

“The industry a person picks to start a business has a huge effect on the odds that it will grow. If you go back 20 years or so, about 4% of all the startups in the computer and office equipment industry made the Inc. 500, 0.005% of startups in the hotel and motel industries made that list, and 0.007% of startups in eating and drinking establishments. So that means the odds that you make the Inc. 500 are 840 times higher if you start a computer company than if you start a hotel or motel.”

This quotation is from an interview in BusinessWeek online with Scott Shane, author of The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, professor of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western University, also a researcher on new businesses for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and an angel investor with the Cleveland-area North Coast Angel Fund.

Shane finds that most “successful” founders earn 35% less over ten years than they would as employees. Despite, that, they report more job satisfaction than those who continue to work for others. In fact, they are so happy they would have to earn 2.5 times as much to be as happy in an employee rôle.

To the extent that we at the IED have a greater responsibility to foster economic development and job growth than to enhance the lifestyles and satisfaction of would-be entrepreneurs, we need to think clearly about these facts. What is the equivalent today of the computer and office equipment industry? Clearly, although computers, microprocessors, and software are today entwined in every business, their growth is not what it once was.

Is the growth industry of tomorrow based on biology or nanotechnology? If so, how do we systematically look for and encourage entrepreneurs in those areas? If not, then where will growth come from? Perhaps alternative energy or other sustainable technology?

I think these are important questions we should be thinking about and having a dialog about.