Less than 5: Spanish Rice

This Less Than Five post will be the all-around qualifier: it takes less than 5 ingredients, less than $5, and less than 5 minutes (if you don't count inactive cook time). 

When I have an idea for the main dish but need a quick side, rice is always my first thought. Rice is so versatile, you can put almost anything in it and it will taste great. And since I got my new rice cooker, I eat rice at least 3 days a week because it is so easy!

Even if you don't have a rice cooker, rice is super simple to make. 

Stove top: Put 1/2 cup rice and 1 1/2 cup liquid in a pan, heat to boiling. You could use water, broth, tomato sauce, juice, whatever you want. Add any fresh or frozen vegetables too. Lower to simmer, and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and enjoy!
Microwave: Put 1/2 cup rice and 1 1/2 cup liquid in a microwave-safe bowl with plenty of room for the rice to boil. You could use water, broth, tomato sauce, juice, whatever you want. Add any fresh or frozen vegetables too. Microwave for 15-20 minutes on high, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Fluff and enjoy!

Now, for this spanish rice I cheated a little and used a boxed mix because it was on sale for $0.73. You could also use a tbsp chili powder and a small can of tomato sauce for about the same price and taste.

Rice: Bought on sale with spices included. = $0.73
Can of corn: On sale 2 for $1, one for $0.50. = $0.50
Can of diced tomatoes: Usual price is $0.69. = $0.69
Total: $1.92 for about 5 servings = $0.38 per serving!

Ingredients:
1 box Spanish Rice mix
(Or 1 cup rice, 1 small can tomato sauce, 1 tbsp chili powder)
1 can of corn
1 can of diced tomato
1 cup water

Step 1: Spray the rice pot lining, combine all ingredients. Don't drain the corn or tomatoes, the juice adds extra flavor.

Step 2: Turn the rice cooker on and let cook for ~20 minutes. Or use one of the above cooking methods.

Step 3: Serve and enjoy. I made chicken legs to go with my rice. But this would be delightful in a taco or burrito, as a side to enchiladas, baked into a frittata, or on its own as a vegetarian meal.

What's your favorite easy side dish?

The Art of Ethiopian: Part 4 - Cheese, Greens, & Injera

This is the fourth and final post in my Art of Ethiopian Cuisine post series. From a 100%-not-Ethiopian-American, I must say this all tasted really dang good. And it doesn't take too much hands-on work time. If I had had a real Ethiopian over to try it, I'm not sure what their opinion would be. But if you want the "Americanized" easy version, these recipes are sure to do the trick!


The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 1 - Beef & Pork
The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 2 - Chicken & Fish
The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 3 - Potatoes & Lentils
The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 4 - Cheese, Greens, & Injera

Ayib

The cheese is called "Iab or Ayib" and is like a cottage cheese/ricotta hybrid. You usually need it to temper the heat in these types of dishes, but my recipes leave out the Berberi spices you will notice. If you like super hot foods, feel free to pick some up and sprinkle it into all these stews. Because I don't have hours or days to make it the proper way, THIS recipe from Whats4Eats comes close to approximating Iab.  


Ingredients (Ayib):
1 cup large curd cottage cheese
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
Sprinkle sea salt

Step 1: Rinse the cottage cheese in cold water and let it drain. Press dry with paper towels if you like. I tried that and the towel got cheese curds stuck all over it so try at your own risk.

Step 2: In a bowl, mix the cheese curds, yogurt, lemon juice, and salt. Refrigerate until serving.

Gomen Wat

The greens are called "Gomen Wat" (guess Wat...again) and the recipe I used is based off the one HERE on my trusty AllRecipes site. I didn't have collard greens, so I used what I had, which was kale. I bet you could use spinach instead as well, any leafy green will do.

Ingredients (Gomen Wat):
2 cups chopped kale
2 cups water/stock
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Sea salt

Step 1: Put the greens, spices, and liquids in a small crock pot. Cook on low for 1-3 hours. 

Make sure to stir every now and then. The greens will wilt and take up less room. I like my greens extra tangy to counteract the bitter. I also sprinkle them with a healthy dose of fresh coarse ground sea salt. Keep on low until you serve.

Injera

And of course, the cornerstone of the meal, that which holds it all together and is both plate and utensil, the Injera bread. Usually it is made from pure Teff flour and allowed to ferment and rise for three days. I unfortunately had neither the grain nor the time. So I based mine off this cheat recipe HERE from Whats4Eats, which does not need either. It rather ingeniously uses club soda and lemon for both the bubbles and the tang.

Ingredients (Injera):
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups club soda

As you can see, I had lemon-lime club soda so at first I didn't use the lemon juice. Several other recipes I found also use vinegar if you don't have lemon.

Step 1: Combine all ingredients and stir just until all flour is incorporated. The club soda will bubble quite a bit. 

Step 2: On a hot, sprayed griddle, pour about 1/2 cup of batter. 

Step 3: Typically injera is only cooked on one side, but I found that this better was just thick and pancake-y enough that I had to let it mostly cook, then flip for a final minute or two. There were still bubbles, which approximates injera. However the consensus was that the dough is thicker and sweeter than usual. So these are the Americanized Ethiopian pancake version of injera. And actually some said they prefer it, so perhaps this is a better way to ease an American palate into ethnic cuisine.

And this was the final meal. Ground beef, pork, chicken, fish, lentils, potatoes, greens, cheese and my injera pancakes. You of course don't have to cook all these at the same time, but I encourage you to at least make some injera and try one or two stews. You may find that you crave the flavors of Ethiopia from now on! And by cooking all this at home, you control the ingredients, so this meal turns out to be quite healthy, and very filling.

What's your favorite ethnic cuisine?

The Art of Ethiopian: Part 3 - Potatoes & Lentils

Welcome to part three of my four-part Art of Ethiopia Cuisine post series! If you've been following along, you already know how to make Minchet-Abesh Alicha, Doro Wat, Yasa Tibs, and know Injera is just around the corner! The stars of this post were considered side dishes to us meat-eaters, but could easily stand alone in an all-vegetarian meal. This is all about the tubers and lentils. Lentils for Lent, ha. That should be a thing too.

Lentil stew is called "Mesir Wat" (remember Wats?) and the recipe I based mine off of is HERE at A Spicy Perspective. The two potato stew starring both Yukon classics and sweet potatoes was of my own invention. I had had something similar at the Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant near me, and was trying to replicate it. I think it's pretty darn close. I made a small batch, but you could easily scale it up to however many potatoes you want to use.

The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 1 - Beef & Pork
The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 2 - Chicken & Fish
The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 3 - Potatoes & Lentils
The Art of Ethiopian Cuisine: Part 4 - Cheese, Greens, & Injera

Ingredients (2 Potato Stew):
1 sweet potato
2 large baking potatos
1 cup water/stock
Garlic salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp cornstarch

Step 1: Dice the potatoes into tiny pieces. The smaller the pieces, the faster they will cook. Just try to make the pieces uniform in size.

Step 2: I used my rice cooker for this. Because I'm in love with this appliance. You can use a small slow cooker too. Put the potatoes in, and add the spices and liquid. Cook on low for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to serve. About 10 minutes prior to dinner, add the cornstarch. Make sure it mixes in well, no-one wants a cornstarch bomb. This will thicken the sauce, but is not absolutely required.




Ingredients (Mesir Wat):
1 cup lentils (any color, I had brown)
1.5 cups water/stock
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tsp garlic salt

Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a small slow cooker. Or sauce pot.

Step 2: Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 30-60 minutes, until lentils are soft and fully cooked. You can leave them in there foreeeeeever, just keep stirring occasionally and add more liquid as needed.

These were really tasty, I liked the slight tomato-ey flavor and the garlic.

Thickened up nicely after about 1 hour in the crock pot. I like lentils a lot, and this would be tasty with some added veggies as a meal unto itself!

More to come: Cheese, Greens & Injera

Simple sauteed power greens

One of the things I like best about growing up is changing tastes. When I was little, I had an on-off relationships with most vegetables, notably mushrooms. I loved them one week, and hated them the next. With growing up coming changing ideas of what tastes good, and I love it. I can be more creative, try different ingredients and recipes, cook things that are good for me at which I would have turned up my nose years ago. One of those things is kale. Since I worked on a CSA farm and tried Kale Chips for the first time, I have been looking for more ways to use this power green more often. One excellent option is in soup, like the Olive Garden copycat of Zuppa Toscana I made. Delicious and packed with healthy ingredients.

So as I had recently purchased more kale at Sprouts Farmers Market, along with some golden beets and fresh garlic heads, I decided to try another kale classic: Italian Sauteed Greens. I'm sure this is yet another popular side dish with a long and debated over past. But basically it's garlic and olive oil with various greens sauteed lightly, and usually a tangy dressing like vinegar or lemon juice added. Also it is sometimes spicy, but since I'm a wuss I did not add hot peppers or hot pepper flakes. Feel free to if you love heartburn.

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale, cut into small strips

1 bunch beet leaves, in small strips

3-4 cloves garlic, diced

2 tbsp good quality olive oil

1/4 cup tangy thing (I used banana pepper liquid and 3 tbsp lemon juice)

Sprinkle sea salt

3-4 banana pepper rings

Step 1: Dice up your garlic into bits. You can use a garlic press or chopper if you want.

Step 2: Saute the garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil 4-5 minutes, you should be able to smell it.

Step 3: Cut the greens into tiny strips. Add to the pan, and cover tightly. Let it steam in the garlic oil for 10-15 minutes, or until fully wilted.

These greens were so vibrant and lovely even before cooking! All that heart-healthy nutrient-packed deliciousnes...

Step 4: Add your sour notes, lemon juice and banana peppers. Stir, cover, and saute another 5-10 minutes.

Banana pepper rings are a new love of mine. I put them on tuna sandwiches, on pizza, into my greens... they're awesome. And lemon juice is a necessity for life.

Step 5: Once wilted and everything is combined, move to plate and garnish as you like.

I added a little sprinkle of fresh parmesan cheese and some sea salt. It was the most perfect balance, and the tart juices too away a lot of the harsh bitterness most people don't like about greens.

I also had some cottage cheese on the side, to complete a whole, light lunch. It's filling without feeling stuffed, and ridiculously good for you.

Mmmmmm...

What's your favorite way to cook greens of any kind?

Perfect refried beans - low-fat, high protein!

Refried beans, known as frijoles refritos, are a staple in Mexican and Mex-inspired cuisine. It translates into "well-fried beans", which is an accurate description. Most often pinto beans are used, though sometimes pink or red kidney beans can be used as well. The beans are fully cooked, and any water or broth is drained from them. Then they are mashed well, and put into a frying pan to be cooked again over low heat. Refried beans tend to be made with bacon grease and/or lard and/or bacon added, which sure boosts the flavor, but also may boost your hip size. It's super simple to make your own at home with only three ingredients and no added fat.

Ingredients:

1 can pinto beans, drained (use no added sodium kinds if you can find it)

2-3 bay leaves

1 tbsp cumin

Step 1: Drain the beans. Rinse them as well if not low-sodium to remove some excess sodium. (You can also use dried beans. Soak them overnight in the fridge and boil until soft, then drain.)

*Side note: bean cooking water is apparently awesome for watering gardens
or house plants. So if you cook beans from raw, keep that in mind!

Step 2: Pour the beans into a frying pan. Add about 1/4 cup water, and cook on low until the water bubbles and beans are heated through. Mash with a fork or potato mashed until mostly soft and creamy. 

Step 3: Add bay leaves and cumin. You can also add salt and pepper if you like. Mix well, continue to cook on low heat for 10 minutes to an hour. Add more water periodically if they seem to dry out too much. Enjoy as a side dish, on tacos or burritos, or with eggs at breakfast.


Think Geek has more in-depth info on how they are prepared and when to eat them, Food Timeline has a neat comparison of various historical accounts of what refried beans are and when they originated, and Wikipedia covers why the mistranslation into "refried" is wrong on two counts.

What is your favorite way to cook beans?

Mashed cauliflower & potatoes

One of my favorite healthy foods to hide is cauliflower. Because of its subtle taste and versatile texture, cauliflower can be hidden in many foods, the easiest of which is mashed potatoes. Most people cannot jump right into mashed cauliflower alone, so a 50:50 mixture is a good place to start.

From the family "Brasicaceae" (I don't know how to say that either), cauliflower is related to broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts and collard greens. For the long history of cauliflower breeding, see Wikipedia. In one cup of raw cauliflower alone, there is only 25 calories, yet 10% of your daily recommended fiber and over 75% of your daily vitamin C! Bet you didn't think a boring white veggie could help fend off colds, but it's true. It has no fat of course, but also not much protein, which is acceptable. I don't recommend mashed cauliflower alone as a meal. The World'sHealthiestFoods website recommends cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower a minimum of 2-3 times per week. Cauliflower has nutrients that help support the immune system, anti-inflammatory system, and antioxidant systems. It has been linked to some amount of cancer protection, likely because of these protective effects.

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cauliflower

4-5 potatoes

1 1/2 cups stock (chicken, beef, veggie, homemade)

Garlic salt

Step 1: Peel the potatoes, dice them, and cut the cauliflower head into florets.

This is veggie stock I made myself in a slow cooker earlier.

Step 2: Put the stock (or water) into the crock pot and then add in potato and cauliflower.

The cauliflower should break apart easily in your hands.

Leftover scraps of potato and cauliflower will go in the freezer until I have enough to make another batch of vegetable stock.

Step 3: Cook on low 2-3 hours or high 4-5 hours. Mash the potato and cauliflower together, adding any spices or more liquid if needed. You can now serve or doctor however you would normally use mashed potatoes. If you don't tell, no one will even know the difference! 

What's you favorite way to use cauliflower?

Broccoli cheddar rice

Everyone has days when they just don't know what to make with dinner. Maybe you have a perfect roast in the crock pot, or stopped on the way home for burger meat but don't know what to go with it. This is a recipe for one of my go-to side dishes, broccoli cheddar rice. A while back I posted on how to make it in a slow cooker, now I'll tell you it can also be done in the oven! This was perfect because I had a whole chicken roasting in the oven, so I just whipped this up and popped it in there with it. Super simple, filling and tasty.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup broccoli florets
About 3 tbsp butter/margerine
Garlic salt

I don't know why it won't let me flip the photo. I tried uploading it four times...

Step 1: Into an oven-safe dish (small-ish, or double/triple the recipe and use larger) pour 1 cup water, 1 cup milk and 1 cup rice. Mix it up well. Add a few tbsp margarine, broccoli and cheese on top.

 Step 2: Pop it in the oven at 350-375 for about 20-30 minutes (depends on the temp. I had it at 375 for the chicken so it only needed about 21 minutes to cook fully).

Full meal with the chicken, broccoli cheddar rice and candied carrots.

Candied Carrots

Everyone knows how hard it is sometimes to get kids to eat their vegetables. Heck, it's hard to get adults to eat their vegetables! But my mom knew all the tricks and I remember several vegetable side dishes that we all actually enjoyed as kids. Candied carrots was always one of my favorites. Not only to carrots already have a naturally sweet-ish taste, but then you add butter and brown sugar, and it's almost like dessert with dinner! Not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but at least it will get some vitamin A and beta-carotene into your diet.

Ingredients:
3 large whole carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick?)

 Step 1: Slice all the carrots (peel if you want, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Always wash them first though) and place in a saucepot.
Step 2: Add the butter and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes, until the carrots are soft when poked with a fork.

That's really all there is to it! They are soft and sweet and a perfect side dish for just about anything. If you have a favorite side dish from your childhood, or a way to cook vegetables such that kids and family members don't complain, feel free to comment and share!

Hearty Quinoa with Peppers, Corn & Black olives

Quinoa is one of my newer food obsessions. As you may be able to tell, I'm quite the avid reader of food blogs, magazines, articles, TV shows, recipe swapping, etc. If it has to do with food and cooking, I'm interested. I love learning new ways of cooking, new foods I've not yet heard of or tried, new spices. Since coming to Colorado I met someone from Ethiopia who introduced me to Injera and all sorts of new and exciting foods, meaning a post on those will likely be coming soon! Anyhow, when I find one I like enough, it becomes a part of my food routines. Thus is the case with quinoa. It is tiny grains like rice, with a nuttier flavor that pairs well with nearly anything. But it can be a bit bland if you don't add things to it.
If you recall from earlier posts, I moved recently and set about a mission to use up as much food from the pantry as I could so that I didn't have to cart it with me to the next place. In the final week before moving, I discovered a box of quick-cook quinoa I didn't realize I had. I decided that I would add as many canned items as I thought would go well together and make one heck of a side dish. For vegetarians and vegans, this could also be a main dish. Once it was all mixed together, it turned out super tasty! And it makes a ton, so be aware of that. Maybe 8 cups worth?

Ingredients:
1 box couscous (maybe 2 cups uncooked)
1 can corn
1 can beans (I had garbanzo)
1 can black olived
1 jar roasted red peppers

Step 1: Open and drain the corn, beans and olives. Pour into a pot and add a full can of water each and set to boil. Dice the black olives and red peppers into small pieces. Add the peppers to the pot.

The mixed up canned goods looks like soup.

Step 2: Once it boils, pour in the couscous and mix. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes covered.

 Step 3: Once all the liquid is absorbed, fluff it up with a fork. You now have healthy veggie and protein packed side dishes for about 8-10 people or meals!

 The flavors and colors worked together nicely. As I said, this could be a full meal in its own right. You can also experiment with adding other vegetables, meats or cheeses too.

Served with steak and a side salad. Perfect.