Red Beans and Rice

I actually first made this about a year and a half ago when I had a lovely touch of Montezuma's revenge. The only thing that sounded good was rice and beans. I have added spices to the recipe I make now so it is not so bland – actually I still enjoy it ‘bland’ with just a little salt and pepper and a hint of lime. Anyway, here is the recipe for red beans and rice. I love this recipe so much! You can add and change whatever you want to make it fit your meal. It is great for a side dish or a main dish with a lite salad.

 

 Very simple.Very tasty. Very filling. Very meatless!

2 TBS oil

1/4 -1/2 cup white onion, diced small

1/4- 1/2 cup red or yellow pepper, opt.

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, opt.

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 cup rice (not instant!)

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cup vegetable broth or chicken broth

 

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, pepper (if using) and garlic and cook until onion is soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add cumin, cilantro, and rice, stir and cook 1 minute. Add the beans and broth, stir all together. Bring to a boil, then cover. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes until rice is done.

 

Serve with lime slices if desired.

chopped, episode one

Tonight I decided to play CHOPPED. I had some things in my kitchen that needed to be used up so I got creative.  I love tomatoes so that was the base of my recipe. They were medium sized so I just cut the top off, but it you had larger ones I am sure you could cut them in half and get two for one! I cleaned out the guts inside, can you tell where this is going….? I then made a simple vinaigrette in bowl with oil, vinegar, sugar and basil (from my little herb garden!).  I whisked that together then added some chopped up spinach, about 2 cups, loosely packed.  I had about half a jar of marinated artichoke hearts that I chopped up and added as well.  I mixed it altogether and then stuffed it into my tomatoes.

Oh, I was trying to figure out a way to get the little darlin’s to stay up and thought to put them in my muffin tin – perfection!  And what is a stuffed anything without cheese? I just used parmesan. 

 I had preheated my little toaster oven – can I go off on a tangent for a moment to how much I L.O.V.E  my little toaster oven? I use it so much more than my regular oven, which I think gets used pretty much when I do cakes or cookies and that’s it. My little oven works great for the meal sizes I make. I hate heating up that huge oven to make a small pan. Anyway…..I had preheated my little oven to 400 degrees. I cooked the stuffed tomatoes for about 15 minutes. Don’t they look great!

I think that a side of wild rice would go so well with these little tomatoes. Maybe next time! So this was a super easy and lite meal to make.  I don’t think I will play CHOPPED too often; my family might get a nice surprise of cheetos and chocolate cupcakes! But it was fun tonight and it came out great! 

For three medium sized tomatoes:

Preheat oven 400 degrees

Wash tomatoes, cut off tops and remove the guts

In medium bowl mix together:

1 TBS oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1/8 cup sugar

Pinch of basil

About 2 cups loosely packed spinach, rinsed and chopped

1/2 jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped, do not rinse

Add to vinaigrette and mix well. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray and place tomatoes in muffin cups. Stuff with mixture and sprinkle with shredded (the good stuff!) parmesan cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

This recipe is so easy it’s wrong!

I used Grandma’s fabulous-only-pancake-recipe-you-ever-need. I made a cinnamon roll filling mixture and put it in a squeeze bottle I have. The tip was a bit too small, so I think that next time I would cut it down just a little. Just make your pancake recipe as you normally would, pour batter on the griddle and then use your squeeze bottle to make a swirl on your pancakes. When it is ready to flip, FLIP! Then let it cook the rest of the way and TA-DA you are done! What I l.o.v.e.d. about these was that the cinnamon roll filling gets all crispy. It will leave behind a little cinnamon roll goo on your griddle, so just keep in mind that every other pancake you make in that batch will be flavored with cinnamon roll. Unless you take the time to clean it in between of course. I have seen this recipe done with a powdered sugar glaze just like a cinnamon roll, but I thought it would be too sweet. I ate these pancakes hot of the griddle, no syrup or anything, and they were PERFECT.  I think that about covers it, enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Filling:

4 TBS (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)

1/4 cup + 2 TBS packed brown sugar

1/2 TBS ground cinnamon 

WHITE TEXAS SHEET CAKE
     This is a nice alternative to the Chocolate Texas Sheet cake
1 cup butter                                           1/2 teas. salt
1 cup water                                            1 teas. baking soda
2 cups flour                                            1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar                                           1/4 cup milk
2 eggs                                                     4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup sour cream                                 1/2 teas. almond extract
1 teas. almond extract                             1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
     In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup butter and water to a boil.  Remove from heat, and stir in flour,, sugar, eggs sour cream, 1 tea. almond extract, salt and baking soda until smooth. Pour batter into a greased 10 x 15 x 1 inch baking pan.
     Bake at 375 degrees for 20 - 22 minutes, or until cake is golden brown.  Cool for 20 minutes.
     Combine 1/2 cup butter and milk in a saucepan, bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Mix in powdered sugar and 1/2 teas. almond extract.  Stir in nuts.  Spread frosting over warm cake.
     Note: The almond flavoring is very light.  You can substitute vanilla extract for a vanilla cake.  I think it would be good to try a coconut extract in the cake a frosting and then sprinkle unsweetened, toasted coconut over the frosting.

                                              Customizable Bread Bowl Breakfast
8 crusty bread rolls
2 T. butter
salt & pepper
* assorted fillings
8 whole eggs
     Preheat oven 350.
     Slice tops off of each roll and scoop out inside.  Brush insides with butter. Season with salt and pepper.
     Fill with toppings & crack an egg over the top. Season with salt and pepper.
     Bake  10-12 munites.  Then cover loosely with foil.  Bake additional 20-25 minutes.

Assorted fillings: Crumbled bacon, grape tomatoes, herbs, shredded cheeses, herbed feta, carmelized onions, precooked-shredded potatoes, ham, sausage, mushrooms, spinach.