Amy Goodwin is the mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, a lucky city to be in her capable hands! She’s the most energetic visionary and is as funny as she is smart. My face still hurts a bit from laughing when we chatted for this interview. She might claim here that she’s not much of a cook -- and anyone familiar with the Goodwin family knows Amy’s husband Booth is the mayor of their home kitchen. However, her 20-ish minute coconut rice recipe is a show stopper, game changer, life saver. All the things! Stop what you’re doing and make this rice, and maybe the peanut sauce, too, to quell your hunger.

Amy and I met at Holz Elementary where our kids were enough years apart that they didn’t even overlap in the lunchroom. As moms do, we collaborated on some PTA projects and all the while Amy excelled in her impressive day jobs. She translated her journalism degree into an exciting political career. Before she became the city’s first female mayor, she was the commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Tourism and the state’s number one cheerleader. Almost heaven, indeed!

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I was going to try to find one, I thought about lying to you about it, but I can’t do that. If I’m anything I’m honest. I’m the eater of the family, not the chef. My favorite thing to eat that I cook all the time is sweet and salty jasmine rice. Boil it in coconut milk, add some sugar and salt. It’s like a side and it’s also like dessert. I make a triple recipe, my 16 year old and 18 year old love it! It’s great with peanut sauce with ginger (lots of garlic and ginger)

What’s your favorite city? That’s silly. The city that I serve! Obviously I have lots of favorite cities, but this one is my favorite favorite favorite. I’m a rivers, lakes, creeks and streams girl. If I’m gonna get out of town I’ll go by a lake. I love the Eastern Panhandle and the Potomac.

What’s your favorite restaurant in your current city? You can’t do this to me! This is the problem, I’m an eater. When my husband travels, my boys know we are ordering out. What the question should be is what’s your favorite place to eat breakfast? To get a snack? I’m the girl who can make a meal out of getting an extra thick raspberry chocolate chip milkshake at Ellen’s! Barkadas is my ‘I’m sad cuz it’s bad weather’ restaurant and I get the crispy spam burrito and it’s pure comfort food. We have Food Truck Wednesday on Slack Plaza. My favorite is Bite Mi. Rock City has my favorite pastries. Favorite pie is Sarah’s Bakery. Have you had her pies?! Favorite brunch is Sam’s Uptown. That’s where we eat brunch! Chicken and waffles. So good! Best burger in town is Joe’s. Cheeseburger with everything except onions.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Something that doesn’t have mold on it? My boys eat constantly. There’s usually not much in there! Can it be in the freezer?

OK, then it’s ice cream that people have forgotten about. Those little vanilla mochis.

Who taught you to cook? OK ok, listen. One thing you know about me is I’m honest! This is how I think people learn how to cook, they learn from their parents. My parents worked constantly so we ate out of a crockpot or we went out to eat. The person who actually taught me the most is Hello Fresh, the meal kit that gets delivered with clear how-to instructions. I really do have a lot of good skill sets, but cooking is not one of them.

What’s your go-to dish for company? Booth cooking on the Green Egg is always a crowd pleaser. I can whip up a low country boil if people who are coming don’t have food allergies. Homemade pizzas on the Big Green Egg are always a big hit! I keep beating up on myself. I’ll tell you I make the best homemade chocolate chip cookies. I make them for the fire department, the police department. If they see me coming with a box in my hand they know what's in there.

What’s on your cooking playlist? I love alternative music, punk rock!

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? OMG coffee 24/7. Coffee, coffee, coffee all day long! Like my old newsroom days. I like it to be khaki color. Not sweet, though I might have a cookie with it.

Date night--at home? or out? I just did a story on our city finances. That was easier than this interview! It’s always a split. When I pick, it’s out, when he picks, it’s in. He likes kitchen gadgets and always wants to try out the new ones.

Most stained cookbook? I have hundreds of cookbooks, I like to read them like a magazine. Before I was in public office when I had more time, it was Chrissy Teigen, her first book. Also stuff my sister texts me. If this interview was about cleaning the home I would crush this. I was the cleaner growing up. My sister did all the cooking.

Surf? or Turf? Both?

Indispensable kitchen tool? I would say my really heavy marble rolling pin! I like to bake.

Staple childhood comfort food? Anything out of the crockpot. I grew up in the northern panhandle, lots of Italian food. I love a good red sauce with bread to dip in it.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she is so wicked smart, fabulous, wonderful. I just really love her. I love her! Just to be in her presence.

Ideal grilled cheese? OOHHH! Three different types of cheeses on my father in law’s homemade bread. Oh and that bread is great for french toast, too.

Favorite pizza topping? Mushrooms! Lola’s mushroom pizza is crazy good!

Where would you want to take a cooking class? In Jennifer Garner’s kitchen. I’m not being funny about it. I think she would be really nice, she wouldn’t tell me I’m using the wrong knife.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Be prepared for company. Always have good cheese, crackers, nuts and olives, oh and some wine, and people will think you’ve been planning on their arrival.

Three things next to your stove? I have a big planter filled with fresh herbs, my salt pig, four different types of olive oil. Lots of different pepper mills that Booth buys. Lots of hot sauces, I think I have more hot sauces than anyone in Charleston.

Favorite Sports Team? Now what does this have to do with cooking? You know I’m a hockey mom! Pittsburgh penguins.

Sweet and salty coconut rice ready for topping your way. I went with roasted peanuts, lime, red pepper flakes, toasted coconut and fresh cilantro.

Mayor Amy’s Sweet and Salty Coconut Rice

I asked Amy if she makes this recipe in a rice cooker and she replied that’s not one of the zillions of kitchen gadgets in the Goodwin home. So I challenged her that I would try making it in the rice cooker* (talk about game changer! Mine is new this year and I am in love!) and that if it worked, I owe her a rice cooker. Order pending!

1 ½ cups jasmine rice, a can of FULL FAT coconut milk, fill the can with water, ¼ cup sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons. JQ Dickinson salt

COMBINE all ingredients in a medium saucepan (with a tight fitting lid). Bring to a low boil, stir, then reduce heat to low and simmer with the lid on until rice is done, about 20 minutes.

*works splendidly in my rice cooker! when it was ‘done’ I gave it a stir and pressed the cook button again to give it a few extra minutes of full heat. The bottom got a little golden but didn’t stick.

Bonus recipe for Mayor Amy’s peanut sauce in her words:

½ c. peanut butter, all natural is best, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger. (I use ginger on almost everything, I even put it on my toothbrush!’ she said) 1 tablespoon sriracha if you want to kick it up! 5 cloves of garlic, minced or grated. Mix it all up. This recipe saves me! I stole it from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook Cravings.