Beans and Rice

6.19.14 Beans and Rice

Costa Rica serves the best beans and rice dish as a side with nearly every meal.  I went there once in 2007 and have been trying to replicate the recipe ever since.  While I never did get it to taste quite right (oh well, guess I’ll have to go back and taste-test again), I sure did find some good combinations.  Typically I don’t use yellow pepper, but I happened to have some on hand that needed to be used.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups water
2 cups dried black beans
3 cups cooked white rice
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (leaves only)
1/2 small fresh jalapeno,seeded and finely diced
1/2 small yellow pepper, seeded and finely diced
2 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

In 3-4 cups cold water, dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt, then add the dried beans. Cover and soak overnight or up to 3 days.  Heat 2 TBS oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and yellow pepper and cook until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.  Then add jalapeno and cook another 3 minutes, stirring once.  Add garlic and cook another minute or so until fragrant.  Pour beans and water into saute pan, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until beans are softened to taste.  I like mine to still have a bit of give, never mushy.  Depending on taste and length of time the beans have soaked, this could be anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes.

When beans are cooked through, add rice and cilantro and stir.  “Fry” the beans and rice a few minutes more, until flavors meld into the rice (7-10 minutes).  Salt to taste. Serve as a main or side dish.
Enjoy!

Maple, Chocolate, and Cinnamon French Toast

5.7.2014 Maple, Chocolate and Cinnamon  French Toast

Good Gluten-free bread is tough to find.  Of the 5+ brands I have tried on the market (and 5+ mixes I have made at home), only Udi’s came remotely close to a traditional piece of sandwich bread.  Don’t get me wrong, some of the best pizza crusts and cookies I have tried were gluten-free, but GF bread will just never compete with the wheat flour varieties. GF bread does, however, make delicious French toast because it stays so moist inside (probably due to the same ingredient that makes many GF breads taste ‘gummy’).
We didn’t even top this chocolatey French toast with syrup.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

8 slices of your favorite Gluten-Free bread (I used Udi’s White Sandwich)
4 large eggs
1/4 – 1/3 cup Real maple syrup
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
favorite oil for cooking (I used coconut oil)
powder sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl or shallow dish, mix maple syrup, vanilla, cocoa powder, and cinnamon until mostly to fully blended.  In a separate bowl, beat 4 eggs until completely homogenous. Brush the bottom and sides of a shallow frying pan with oil, heat over medium.  While pan is heating, dip bread slices (I cut mine into quarters to fit my bowl) into maple/cocoa mixture, coating completely. Then dip in egg mixture and place into hot pan.  Cook as you would any other French toast (2-4 minutes per side), turning when lightly browned.  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.  Serve with or without maple syrup.

Zucchini and Strawberry Jam Pancakes

1.10.2014 Zucchini and Strawberry Jam Pancakes

My kids stopped eating jam/jelly/preserves.  I don’t know if it’s too sugary for them now, but they don’t want it on sandwiches, and I could sense the jar in my fridge was nearing the ‘surprise, I’m moldy’ phase.  Time to use it up…along with that zucchini that’s getting a little limp. How could I use them both?…why put them in a pancake, of course!
There are many gluten-free mixes out there, but I used Wild Roots brand.  Next time I will peel the zucchini before shredding because it became obvious to my son that there were veggies in there and at first he tried to pick them out.  I finally convinced him it was the zucchini that made the pancakes more moist, and that wasn’t a lie!  Below I list milk, eggs, oil, etc. for ingredients because that’s what my mix called for.  Make your pancakes according to the instructions, adding the below amounts of zucchini and jam, seeds, nuts, etc. (or make your own blend of pancake ingredients, omitting sugar since the jam is already loaded with it).

Ingredients

2 Cups pancake mix
– 1/2 cup almond milk
– 1/2 cup water
– 2 large eggs
– 4 TBS oil
1 large zucchini, peeled and shredded (I used the shredding tool on my food processor)
1/2 cup strawberry jam
2-4 tsp oil for cooking
2 TBS ground flax-seed (optional)
2 TBS chia seed (optional)

In a large bowl, beat eggs until homogenous, then stir in almond milk, water, eggs, oil, flax and chia seed. Add pancake mix and gently stir until just blended, batter may be lumpy.  In a large, non-stick griddle or frying pan, heat a bit of oil until shimmering.  Using a spoon or small ladle (my gravy ladle works best for this recipe), pour pancake batter onto pan.  Turn when batter becomes bubbly around edges and bottoms are slightly browned.  Work in batches, adding more oil to the pan/griddle as needed.  Serve with maple syrup if they aren’t moist and sweet enough for you already.  Enjoy!

Yellow Squash-Laced Falafal

1.8.2014 Zucchini-Laced Falafel

Ingredients

1 16oz. pkg Zyad brand falafel mix (or other wheat free falafel mix)
1 2/3 cup water (or amount listed in pkg instructions)
1 large yellow squash, finely diced (I used a food processor)
2 cups (or less) cooking oil for frying

In a mixing bowl, combine falafel mix and finely diced squash.  Mix in water (according to pkg instructions) and let rest 30 minutes (per pkg instructions).  Heat oil over medium heat in large saute pan until shimmering.  Roll falafel into balls, then gently press to make a small patty. Fry in oil until browned, turning to brown other side if necessary (approx. 3-5 minutes per side). Serve alone with a side of tartar, in a corn tortilla with veggies, or as an accompaniment to a main dish (I served mine along-side some grilled chicken breast strips).  Enjoy!

One Pot Chicken, Rice and Cauliflower

1.6.2014. One Pot Chicken, Rice and Cauliflower

Cauliflower…you can hide it in rice really well ;).  For the chicken, I was going for extra crispy outside, with tender, juicy inside.  Honestly I started the chicken in a cold pan with no oil (technique I’ve seen to render extra fat from chicken, which wasn’t needed here because I used skinless thighs).  My chicken took about 20 minutes to cook the one side, and almost didn’t release from the pan when I wanted, so I decided not to add that part to the official recipe because if I ever make this dish again (which I will), I will simply brown in a bit of oil and a hot pan as listed below.  The result of my chicken was tender and juicy with a ‘jerkified’ coating on top. It was delicious, but a long, tedious part of the dish that isn’t really necessary.

Ingredients

1/2 Head Cauliflower
4 Boneless chicken thighs
2 Cups uncooked rice
3 and 1/2 Cups water
2 Large cloves garlic, diced or pressed
1/4 Small jalapeno
1 TBS salt
1 tsp oil
1 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf

If time permits, brine chicken thighs in 3 cups water, 1 TBS salt, and bay leaf for 30-60 minutes.  During the brine, finely chop cauliflower in food processor, about 5-10 long pulses. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Remove thighs from brine, saving liquid for later.  In large oven-safe Dutch oven, heat oil to shimmering and brown chicken thighs, skin-side down over medium heat until very brown and they easily release from the pan on their own (about 5-10 minutes).  Set aside partially cooked chicken.  Using same pan, slowly pour in a bit of the brining liquid, scraping browned bits from bottom.  Add the rest of the brining liquid plus the additional 1/2 cup water, rice, cauliflower, garlic and jalapeno, stir.  Nestle thighs into mixture with browned skin-side up. Cover, and place pan in oven for 25-35 minutes, until thighs are fully cooked through, and so is rice.  Remove pan from oven, uncover and let cool slightly, serve and enjoy!