NOT CheapCooking but quite good.

• 1 Tbs oil
• 1 Tbs minced onion
• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 pinch saffron

Put the rice cooker on cook and heat a Tbs of oil, then add 1 Tbs of minced onion and cook a few minutes until softened. Stir in the rice and cook a few minutes, then add the broth and saffron, Stir then put the lid on and reset to start the rice cooking process if needed.

For my rice cooker, it automatically turns itself to warm. 20 minutes later I can stir and keep on warm for a while or serve.

Last year a client gave me some Penzey spices for a holiday gift and I’m just getting around to opening some of them. Last night we tried the Sate seasoning, which has salt, brown sugar, garlic, onion, coriander, shallots, ginger, tumeric, sweet paprika, Ancho pepper, galangal, cayenne red pepper and lemon grass in it! Whew!  Much easier to use a blend for sure, although I rarely buy them myself.   You could just sprinkle this stuff on some meat for some excellent flavor but I followed the recipe in their catalog and it was awesome!

I didn’t feel like going out and lighting the barbecue as I had just put the cover on it, expecting rain tonight or tomorrow.  I thought I’d try the George Foreman Grill for this and it worked great! (Note: I do not have the one with the removable plates but I would get that one were I to get a new one.)

• 2-4 Tbs Penzey’s Sate seasoning
• 2 Tbs water
• 3 Tbs soy sauce
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 2 Tbs rice vinegar
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 3/4″ cubes

Mix together the water and sate seasoning and let sit a few minutes to blend.

If you’re using wooden skewers, throw those in the sink and cover with water and let soak. This is probably less important on the George Foreman grill but very important if you grill them with a live flame.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the chicken to the sate seasoning and water, mix well, then stir in the chicken. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour, preferably two. I only did an hour.

The chicken will only take a few minutes to cook, maybe 4-5, so estimate how long it will take you to skewer the chicken and start some rice going at some point. I made saffron rice in the rice cooker and it came out great.

Put the chicken chunks on the skewers while the grill is heating. Cook 4-5 minutes.

Serve with some dipping sauces if you’d like. I used a bottled Thai peanut sauce that I had around.  This one would probably work good:

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 3 Tbs hot water
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 2-3 tsp plum sauce

These would work well as appetizers at a party but we served them for dinner, with saffron rice and a green salad.

A dinner of leftovers tonight. I can hardly cook when the doorbell keeps ringing!

First, I had some leftover Sort of Mexican Chicken Soup.  I added a large spoonful of this avocado pico del gallo and some crushed tortilla chips. Mmm!

I also used the last of the cooked chicken to make a chicken salad sandwich.  I am totally guessing at the measurements just to give any new cooks a starting place. You must taste and adjust!

• 1 cup diced cooked chicken
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1-2 Tbs sweet pickle relish
• 2-3 Tbs mayonnaise
• 1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
• a dash of sweet curry powder
• a dash of salt

I toasted up some sliced sourdough for the sandwich part. Had I wanted a salad without the bread I might have added some diced apples and/or diced grapes.  I kept the curry powder very light. I just wanted a hint of it.  Really quite nice!\

Oh, and I don’t mean to imply this only made one sandwich!  There is more chicken salad for tomorrow!

Mexican Inspired Chicken Soup

I wanted some soup for lunches later in the week so cooked this up to go with the carne asada soft tacos I was making for dinner. I wanted something Mexican oriented and with some vegetables so played around a bit and came up with this soup. I used some corn I had frozen after we had leftover corn on the cob. I just sliced it off the cob and froze it. I liked it in the soup because it was larger chunks of corn rather than just individual kernels.

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 tsp taco seasoning (optional)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt (depending on your broth)
• 6 cups homemade chicken broth
• 1 cup cooked chicken, diced
• 1 cup corn (I used frozen)
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

This could have gone any number of directions depending on what I had found while rooting through the freezer and vegetable bin.  If I’d wanted a lighter soup, I’d have left out the chicken but I was thinking this would make a nice lunch for me later. If I’d wanted a heavier soup I would have added some cooked beans and maybe some potatoes or rice. Also, if I’d had extra salsa without the avocados I would have added that instead of or in addition to the fresh tomato from my garden.

Heat the oil and cook the onion and celery until softened. Sprinkle with the taco seasoning, cumin and salt and cook a minute. Add the rest of the ingredient except for the fresh cilantro and simmer 30 minutes, stirring now and then. Garnish with the cilantro and serve.

Mmm!  Could also add some diced avocado, grated cheese and crushed tortilla chips if you wanted a heartier soup.

Carne Asada Soft Tacos

This is a good recipe from the November issue of Cooking Light magazine, (one year for $15 at Amazon).  I couldn’t find the skirt steak they recommended but used a thinly sliced package of beef round tips I saw on sale instead.   The steak came out a bit “limey” if you ate it plain, but in a taco it was fantastic!  So if you were going to adapt this for something else, you might want to cut back on the lime juice or cut it with some olive oil or something. But as I said, in the tacos it was fantastic. I served them to my youngest and her friend and her friend’s father. All thought they were quite tasty!  We did a mix of soft corn tortillas and crispy ones.

Carne Asada

Marinate the steak a few hours in:

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper  (recipe called for ground red pepper, I used black)

I mixed the marinade ingredients together in a shallow glass dish, then put the steak slices in and moved them around and turned them over until they were well coated, then covered the dish and refrigerated. I pulled the steak out while I started making the salsa.

When the salsa was ready, I heated a cast iron skillet on the stove and cooked each slice of steak a few minutes on each side, then removed to a plate while I cooked the rest. When they were all done, I sliced them into strips then cut the strips into smaller pieces, about 1/2″.

Avocado Pico del Gallo

Avocado Pico del Gallo

• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup diced yellow or white onion
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, diced
• 1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and diced (we’re wimpy. you might like more heat.)
• 1 Tbs lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 avocado, diced
• salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit while you cook the steaks and heat the corn tortillas.

Putting It All Together

If you want soft tacos, you can heat the corn tortillas either directly over a gas burner, in a cast iron skillet, or in the microwave (either in a tortilla warmer or wrapped in some paper towels).

If you want crisp tacos you can buy the package of course. Or heat up some oil in a skillet and fry each tortilla, turning once, a few minutes on each side. Drain on a paper towel, folding the tortilla in half so it hardens in a half circle.

Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, and the pico de gallo salsa.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples

Okay, most of you are wrinkling your noses already aren’t you?  But for some reason I like Brussels Sprouts. I grew them one year in the garden as well and they were totally carefree and easy. Hmmm… probably about time to plant them again.

I found this recipe in the latest Cooking Light magazine. I’ve recently resubscribed and am enjoying it.  The combo of the apples and apple juice (I didn’t have cider like the recipe called for..is there really a difference?) and the roasting made this quite good. Even my 15 year old liked it!  I didn’t actually measure the sprouts, just used what I thought we would eat.

• 8 ounces (?) Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and then quartered
• 1/2 cup diced apple
• a good splash of apple juice, 2 Tbs or so
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• a dash each of salt and ground pepper

Mix everything together in a bowl, then put in a shallow pan for roasting.  I used half a small jelly roll pan and filled the other half with some cut up red potatoes and roasted them at the same time.

Kielbasa, potatoes, apples and Brussels sprouts

Heat the oven to 375 and roast about 25 minutes, stirring now and then.   These were done slightly before the potatoes so I just pulled them out sooner, put them in a small bowl, and left it sitting on the oven to keep warm while everything else finished up.

This went great with the roasted red potatoes (cut into cubes and tossed with olive oil and Penzey’s Salad Seasonings), sliced and browned Kielbasa sausage, and some fried apples and onions.

I’m not sure if the latter dish qualifies as Indian or not. I got it from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food. I first served it at a family meal as a side dish for omnivores and a main dish for vegetarians. It was gobbled up by everyone! It seemed to go well with last night’s menu though, so I added it as I wanted some variety and was cooking a lot, thinking of midweek lunches and such.

I’ve posted the recipe for butter chicken before. The only difference this time was that I actually used a purchased Garam Masala blend from Penzey’s. It saves a bit of work but I think the Cooking Light mix is quite good.

Second up was this Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry) recipe I found online.  I had no mustard seeds so just skipped that. I skipped the red chili pepper as well.   I used canned garbanzo beans and just simmered them with everything a bit longer.

Third was this lentil and potato curry with coconut milk. I added the extra butter and made a quick yogurt and cucumber raita to go with everything.  I don’t think I measured anything. Probably half a cup or so of yogurt (it was already thick so I didn’t drain it), half a cucumber, seeded and grated, and some salt.  I saw a recipe somewhere that added some grated radish to this that sounded good but I had no radishes. Maybe next time.

A neighbor shared some hot dog buns leftover from her party the other night and I had hot dogs in the freezer left over from my last party so it was barbecued hot dogs tonight for dinner!   I wanted to make some fries to go with and saw I still had a sweet potato so did a combo of 2 small regular russet potatoes with 1 sweet potato for the fries.

For all of the potatoes, I peeled them first. I don’t always but did tonight for some reason. I cut them into 1/3″ slices or so, not quite thin fries but not thick either. Then I tossed with some olive oil until lightly coated. I put them in two different small bowls so i could season them differently.

For the sweet potatoes, I sprinkled with salt, cinnamon and paprika, as inspired by Sarah’s Cucina Bella blog.

For the Russet potatoes, I also sprinkled with salt and then some Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle.

I baked them on a jelly roll pan at 425 for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so and watching at the end to see when they hit my desired crunchiness. Your mileage will vary of course depending on how small you cut the potatoes and how hot your oven really is. I pulled some of mine out early as they were thinner than the others and were done sooner.

Both kinds of fries were excellent and the perfect accompaniment to a barbecued hot dog, along with some sliced tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden.

A while back I bought this Zojirushi 6 Cup Rice Cooker / Steamer and have been playing around with it a bit. It’s my first rice cooker so I can’t compare to others, but I have been happy with it. I’m usually only cooking for 2 or 3 and it suits our needs great.    I have been fine with cooking rice on the stove for years and it comes out good BUT it doesn’t “keep” well if you’re timing is off in terms of your other dishes. What I like about this is that once the rice is done, I fluff it a bit, put the lid back on, and it keeps warm without getting mushy for quite a while. (They say one to two hours but I haven’t pushed it that far!)

Last night I was making tacos for 7 and I was worried perhaps I didn’t have enough taco meat and shells so in addition to refried beans I wanted some Mexican rice as well. I have a recipe for Mexican rice I like that I do on the stovetop but I decided to try one in the rice cooker. I used the one in The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker and it came out great!  I especially liked that it used fresh tomato since my garden is still producing.  And just like on the stove, it was a one-pot recipe!

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/3 cup onion, diced
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced (about 1 tsp)
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/2 cup peeled and chopped tomato
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 2 tsp ground chili powder
• salt to taste (maybe 1/2 tsp)

Turn the rice cooker on and put the oil in. Add the diced onion and stir for a few minutes, then add the garlic and cook another minute, stirring. Note: I had to put the lid to weigh the cooker down enough to keep the heat on but could then lift it up to stir.

Add the rice and cook 5 – 10 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden. Add the tomato, stir and cook a few more minutes. Add the water, chili powder and salt. Stir, cover and either reset to cook or leave it alone if it’s still on the cook setting.

When the machine switches to the Keep Warm mode (mine does, not sure what to do if yours doesn’t), cook another 15 minutes. Take the lid off, stir and fluff with a wooden or plastic spoon, then put the lid back on and leave on the warm setting until the rest of your food is ready.

This went great with my normal recipe for tacos, which I doubled for last night. It doesn’t use the seasoning packet so many folks spend a dollar or more on at the store but some garlic, onion and cumin. Just as easy and way cheaper than the packets! (But when I just reviewed that I realize I do a few things different these days. First, I always use diced fresh onion and minced fresh garlic. I’ve also gone to using just an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and adding 1/3 cup or so of water, basically rinsing the can out and just eyeballing the measurement. But if I only have a 15 oz can I use it all up.) Either way it comes out good! And I use either ground beef or turkey, depending on which is cheaper.)

You can, of course, always make your own taco seasoning mix if you like it that way better.

If you have leftover taco meat (we did NOT last night!), make up some taco meat pies (great for lunches) or taco salad.

Beets from the garden

I planted beets a long time ago and then sort of forgot about them in the rush of tomatoes and cucumbers and basil and peppers and lettuce and such.  But they were patient and sat there waiting for me to remember them!

I washed them off and cut all but an inch of the greens of the beets, saving the greens of course.  For the beets themselves, I wrapped in foil and baked an hour or so at 350.  The time will vary depending on the size of your beets. Poke them with a knife and make sure they’re soft through.  When you unwrap them, you can easily pull the peel off, trim the root and greens ends off, then chop. Top with a bit of butter and salt. Yum!

I sorted through the greens and took out the big tough ones (because they’d been in the garden so long!) The tender greens I cooked like chard, with some garlic and oil, letting them wilt.   Served with a few wedges of lemon (also from the yard). Garlic was homegrown too.  The more things come from the garden the more I enjoy the meal!

Anyone have some favorite beet recipes to share? Borscht?  I have a dozen or so left in the garden.  Will be planting more since they were so effortless and easy and are patient!