Chicken with Coconut Rice & Black Beans

This recipe is easily one of my favorites that I do not make enough.   I found this recipe in the August 2007 issue of Real Simple. It is really easy to make and the leftovers still taste great.  I end up just mixing the black beans and rice together, it all goes together so well.  I normally use a red pepper as the recipe lists, but this round I had a green one that needed to be used.    
Since I love warm rice and milk with cinnamon and sugar, I like to double the amount of rice I make.  This way I use all the coconut milk, since you only use one cup for the recipe.  The coconut flavor is really subtle  (in both dishes) and just tasty.  



Chicken with Coconut Rice & Black Beans
4 servings 

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1 cup coconut milk (1 14 oz can)
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
• salt and pepper
• 1 large green bell pepper, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 19-ounce can black beans, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions, replacing 1 cup of water with the coconut milk.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.  Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Turn the chicken and move it to the sides of the skillet.
3. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the bell pepper is slightly soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to plates.
5. Add the beans, cumin, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the remaining oil to skillet. Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. 
6. Serve with chicken and rice.

Enjoy! 

Zucchini Pizza

Back in March I was catching up on one of my new favorite blogs, Eat, Live, Run, and some how came across an old post, "Cheesy Zucchini Pizza That Will Rock Your Face".  With a name like that, how can you resist trying it?  Plus I am a huge fan of zucchini and baking things so I new I needed to try this sometime soon.
I tried her homemade Pizza Dough which was super easy and tasty.  Plus, a wheat crust with zucchini just seems right.  The recipe is enough for two crusts which is very good cause I did manage to screw up at the last minute.  Not thinking, I put the dough between two sheets of wax paper to roll it out, and there it stuck.  Luckily the other half of the dough I had thrown into the freezer had not froze yet and I pulled it out to save the day.  Since you can just buy dough or a crust already done up, you can easily avoid my mess up.
The pizza I made was probably a large, definitely enough for four people.  That said, I had way too much zucchini/cheese mixture to put on the pizza, so it is hiding out in my fridge to become something tonight. (Maybe some sort of quesadilla?) I don't know if my zucchini's were too large or if it is just too much.  I would say you might only need one zucchini and one to one and a half cups of mozzarella cheese. I also added peppers to her recipe and was going to add some of my brother's dried chili mixture, but since my spice sensitive friend was joining me for dinner I decided I had better not. All in all it was really tasty and you think your eating healthy with all the veggies and whole wheat and cheese. Plus, it reheats excellently for next day lunch!


Ingreidents

• Pizza dough! (see link above or buy some)
• 2 large zucchinis, seeds removed 
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• sea salt
• pepper
• red pepper flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees when you begin preparing the zucchini & peppers.  Spray a cookies sheet or pizza baking stone with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Grate the zucchinis and press with paper towels to soak up the liquid. Mix the zucchini and the peppers with the mozzarella cheese and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and garlic. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
4. Work the pizza dough into whatever shape your heart desires. Spread the ricotta cheese on top and then top with the zucchini mixture. Add some pepper flakes. 
5. Reduce oven temperature to 450 and bake pizza for about 12 minutes, or until the crust begins to turn golden and the cheese has started to bubble.

Enjoy! 

Amazing Fresh Apple Salsa

I have had this recipe hanging on my fridge for months now probably waiting for me to make it. It is absolutely delicious.  That's really all I can say about it.  Amazing.  
I found this recipe in Cooking Light and I followed it somewhat closely.  I didn't really measure anything precisely, so my measurements are less specific than theirs were and I added green pepper. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  I was eating it with chips and I made a quesadila with it and some leftover grilled chicken and cheese. Again SO GOOD! 


Fresh Apple Salsa

• 2 apples, peeled and diced 
•  1/4 of a red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 of a green bell pepper, diced 
• fresh squeezed juice from 3 limes 
• 1/4 of a red onion, diced
• about 1/4  cup  minced fresh cilantro
• about 1  tablespoon  honey
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

Combine all ingredients, stirring well.

Enjoy! 

Beef and Corn Quesadillas

I have had a meeting after work every night this week except last night.  I wanted to make something that did not require pulling it from a plastic bag and putting it in the microwave.  The problem is that I did not think ahead at all and did not want to leave my apartment once I was in it, so whatever the recipe was, I had to have all the ingredients.  I pulled out the cookbooks and binder of recipes in search of something.
I kept finding things that I could make minus one ingredient that was not that random, I just didn't have them on hand, like peanuts. I ended up flipping through my latest Real Simple and finding a recipe for Beef Quesadillas. I didn't have all the ingredients, but it gave me some inspiration for my own recipe.  I mixed up some of the veggies I had on hand and needed to use before they went bad and added extra spices.  They turned out to be really good and I have enough for lunch tomorrow.  I think the measurements below are close to what I mixed in, but I didn't measure anything.

 Beef and Corn Quesadillas

• 1/4 Red Onion, diced
• 1/4 Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 1/2 Box (about 5 oz) Frozen Corn
• 12 oz Ground Beef
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt & Black Pepper
• Mike's Dried Chili Mix 
• lots of Cheese
• Taco Shells

1. Warm about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and add onion, pepper and corn.  Mix over medium heat for about 5 minutes. 
2. Add the beef, about a 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1/2 tsp chili mix. Cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes more. 
3. In a clean skillet warm about a 1/2 tablespoon of oil on medium low heat. Toss in a taco shell and spin it around to oil one side, then flip it over to oil the other.  Allow one side of the sides to slightly brown.  
4. Flip over the shell and add in about a 1 cup of the beef mixture and 1/4 cup of cheese on half of the shell.  Fold the other half of the shell over. Allow the shell to brown on one side before carefully flipping it over to brown the other. Once the cheese is melted remove it from the pan and cut into quarters. 

Enjoy!

An Old Favorite & a New One

Since I am home in my mom's large, counter spacious kitchen and four to six people have to be feed each day, I am taking full advantage.  I brought home recipes that seemed like too much work to half or make for one or won't keep forever as leftovers.

Last night I decided to make a Chicken Braid, an old favorite that I haven't had in years.  The first time I had it was at my friends house and his mom gave me the recipe which I brought home and made with my mom a few times, but it has been hiding in my recipe files for awhile. I have to admit that when it was time to start dinner last night I was sent over to my grandparents to drop off some of the candy and cookies we made yesterday and mom ended up starting and finishing the chicken braid before I returned through the trees.  Never the less, here is the tasty recipe. 


Chicken Braid

• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup red pepper, chopped 
• 1 garlic clove, chopped 
• 1 cup shredded chedder
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 2 tsp dill weed
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 packages cresent rolls 
• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp almond slivers

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Mix Chicken, broccoli, and pepper in bowl. 
3. Add mayo, dill, salt and pepper to chicken mixture and blend well.  
4. Unroll 1 package of crescent rolls and DO NOT separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across wide baking stone. Repeat with the second package. On long side cut dough 1 1/2" apart and 3" deep (leave 6" in the center to fill). 
5. Spread mix over center of dough.  Pick up strips and twist over mix. 
6. Brush egg whites over dough top and sprinkle with almonds. 
7. Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until deep golden brown. 

Tonight I made a new recipe I found in Real Simple, Sweet Potato Risotto.  I made it once before and thought that my family might like it, even my picky little sister (she is much worse than I am or ever was).  It's not hard, it just take some time to chop everything and it takes about 45 minutes to cook.  I followed my friend Melissa's advice and measured ever thing out in advance since it starts out rather quick and there is not a lot of time to do so when your in the middle of cooking.

Sweet Potato Risotto

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the sweet potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.
3. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until absorbed.
4. Measure 3½ cups of water. Add ¾ cup at a time and cook, stirring occasionally and waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding the next. It should take 25 to 30 minutes for all the water to be absorbed.
5. Stir in the Parmesan and oregano.

My sister did eat it, but she refused to try the sweet potatoes and picked them out.  She claims she would have picked out the onion, but that was too hard.  I think she would have liked the potatoes if she would have tried, I may be picky, but at least I try things.  She also mixed in French Dressing.  I don't know how that made it better and given her picky eating I can't believe that she would mix them together.  I think its fine the way it is and it's great as a leftover. 

Enjoy! 

Experimenting with Eggplant

Since moving out of my parents house, my real meal (all food groups accounted for) intake has decreased.  Mostly because I was a stressed out architecture student with no time or money and a bowl of pasta with a bit of salt is fast and cheap.  I was a bit better about making (having) complete meals and mixing it up when I had someone making them for me.  I was being kinda lazy about it again once I moved to New York, especially with all the take out so close by.  I moved a bit farther south and my favorite take out spots are no longer call-when-you-get-off-the-subway-and-pick-up-on-the-way-to-the-apartment, therefore forcing some needed diversity in my cooking again.  That said, I still like my quick, one pan meals.

from http://notahippie.wordpress.com/

This one skillet meal was appealing because it was fast, easy, and it had eggplant. This was my first cooking experience with eggplant.  Since moving to New York I have had eggplant in pastas and on pizzas and enjoyed it.  I started collecting recipes with it, but have been too scared to try cooking with one.  Not sure why, but I was, it's an intimidating vegetable.  I found this recipe for Tortellini with Eggplant and Peppers  and finally decided to give it a try.

I am normally a follow-the-recipe type of girl, but I could only find 10 or 14 oz bags of tortellini and had used a bit of my peppers earlier in the week, and my bullion cubes make 2 cups each. So I added a bit of vidalia onion, extra cup of vegetable broth, and 24 oz of tortellini.  Since I like my spices I also added a tiny bit of my brother dried chili mix. It turned out really well. I was afraid I would have a issue with the vegetable cause they would be soft, but it's still really great. The only problem was that the broth didn't soak in as well as I think I should have, which was a bit of a surprise since I added more pasta that broth proportionally.  I thought the broth would be soaked up quicker.

From Real Simple (my picture didn't look as yummy)

The decision to make it again will all hinge on how it does as a leftover for lunch tomorrow. I am afraid the texture of the veggies is gonna gross me out, but I am going to try not to think about it.