Entertainment
Oozi Is My New Favorite Low-Mess Dinner
It’s rare to find a recipe that checks all the boxes: quick, easy, low-mess, and complete (meaning no sides required). When I spotted Mariam Daud’s oozi recipe in her new cookbook, I Sleep In My Kitchen, I knew immediately that I’d found one such gem.
“Oozi is my lazy-girl meal, for those I-don’t-know-what-to-make-and-it’s-already-six-p.m. nights,” says Mariam. “The foundation is rice, ground beef, frozen peas and carrots — ingredients I usually have on-hand. It comes together in 30 minutes, and when you remove the lid of the pot, a plume of spice-fragrant steam wafts into the kitchen, and you’re greeted with plump, colorful rice, dotted with pretty veggies.”
Mariam notes that this traditional dish is often served with chicken legs, but makes for a great, simple dinner on its own. “Don’t overthink it!” she urges. “The whole point of this recipe that it doesn’t take up too much brain power. The main thing to focus on is seasoning it well — let the spices cook in the fat for a few minutes, so the flavors bloom. That’s what really makes the dish. Other than that, don’t worry.”
Oozi (Spiced Rice with Beef, Peas and Carrots)
From I Sleep In My Kitchen, by Mariam Daud
Serves 4-6
for the beef, peas, and carrots:
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 1/4 lbs. ground beef (80%/20%)
1 16-oz bag frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp seven spice/baharat*
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
*Note: For the seven spice/baharat, Mariam says: “Don’t worry about specific brands. I grab whatever’s available at my local Middle Eastern store. If you don’t have one near you, you can easily make it at home. A simple batch is just a tablespoon of these seven spices: black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, and cardamom.
for the spiced rice:
2 cups basmati rice
3 tbsp ghee or olive oil
1 tbsp ground allspice
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp seven spice
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp Vegeta seasoning or chicken bouillon powder
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
for serving:
Chopped fresh parsley
Toasted pine nuts
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened and translucent (3-4 minutes). Stir in the beef, breaking it apart with a spoon, and cook until evenly browned (5-7 minutes). Add the peas and carrots, salt, curry powder, allspice, black pepper, seven spice, cinnamon, and turmeric. Stir to coat the beef and vegetables in the fragrant spices. Let the mixture cook for 5-7 minutes to meld the flavors. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Make the spiced rice: Rinse the rice under cold water until it runs clear. This helps remove excess starch, so you get separate, fluffy grains instead of a gummy texture. In a large pot, melt the ghee over medium heat. Stir in the rice, coating each grain with ghee, and toast for 3 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Add the allspice, curry powder, seven spice, salt, Vegeta/bouillon, black pepper, turmeric, and cinnamon. Stir well to evenly distribute the spices. Add 4 cups water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer — undisturbed — until the rice is fully cooked and tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes to allow the rice to absorb any remaining moisture and become fluffy. “Always let your rice rest for at least ten minutes before jumping in,” says Mariam. “It makes a big difference in the texture.”
To serve: Fluff the rice gently with a fork and transfer to a serving platter. Layer the spiced beef mixture over the rice. Garnish with parsley and pine nuts.
Thank you so much for sharing this dish with us, Mariam, and congratulations on your new book.
P.S. More quick dinners we love, including one broccoli soup with six variations, and my best friends mom’s mushroom paprikash.
(Photos by Jim Henkens. Excerpted from I Sleep in My Kitchen, on sale now from Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. by Mariam Daud. Copyright © 2026 by Mariam Daud.)
Entertainment
SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference
Saturday Night Live returned from a brief hiatus Saturday with a cold open depicting a joint press conference between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, with “Master of None” creator Aziz Ansari playing the latter.
Colin Jost’s Hegseth hit the familiar beats at the podium — performative machismo, military bravado, and repeated jabs at the secretary’s well-documented drinking habits. This time, Hegseth arrived at the mic hauling an oversized pitcher of scotch, which he assured the room was his one for the day. He then fielded questions from the press about the administration’s handling of U.S. strikes on Iran, dismissing each reporter with the particular brand of smug confidence that has become central to Jost’s portrayal of the character.
Ansari’s Patel proved to be the sketch’s standout, arriving to defend his tenure at the FBI and proceeding to do so poorly. The bit’s centerpiece involved Patel simultaneously denying and admitting that he had locked himself out of his work email for 36 hours after forgetting he had changed his password to “kashmeoutside69.”
Funnily enough, Patel was reportedly locked out of his FBI email in real life and believed, at least momentarily, that he was being fired. As the sketch demonstrated, the distance between SNL’s Cold Open and the actual news cycle has rarely felt smaller.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 3, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: In Good Shape
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Green: Current NFL Head Coaches
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Blue: Famous Sports “Curses”
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Purple: Starts of Big Ten Names
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #586 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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In Good Shape: AGIL, ATHLETIC, FIT, STRONG
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Current NFL Head Coaches: COEN, GLENN, REID, RYANS
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Famous Sports “Curses”: BAMBINO, BILLY GOAT, MADDEN, SI COVER
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Starts of Big Ten Names: BOIL, BUCK, CORN, HAWK
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
The DJI Mini 5 Pro drone is $500 off right now at Amazon — save on this content creator favorite
SAVE $500: The DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $500 off the list price of $1,599.
$1,099
at Amazon
$1,599
Save $500
What’s going to happen to the drone market in 2026? Due to legislative pressure on DJI imports in the U.S., there is so much uncertainty at the moment. We expected stock issues by now, but we’re actually seeing strong discounts on some of the best drones in the DJI range.
The DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $500 off and close to the record-low price.
The DJI Mini 5 Pro offers a huge 1-inch CMOS sensor, so whether you’re shooting 50MP stills or 4K/120fps slow-motion, the dynamic range more than delivers. The DJI Mini 5 Pro also makes use of forward-facing LiDAR that powers the new Nightscape Omnidirectional Sensing, meaning it can dodge branches, power lines, and buildings even when you don’t have eyes on your drone.
This popular drone offers 42GB of internal storage, meaning you can actually capture a full session of 4K footage without needing an external card as backup. That can have a massive impact for content creators.
Mashable Deals
Save $500 on the DJI Mini 5 Pro this weekend.
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SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference
