38 Power Foods, Week 22 -- Brown Rice -- Chili and Brown Rice with Spinach Salad

BTW, those are still cherry tomatoes from our garden on November 8.

While chili is a quintessential American fall meal, it is often eaten as is.  Just a bowl.  Just a spoon.  Just you and your chili.  

Fall in our 'hood--tiny, dried crabapples against a St. Paul blue sky.

The chili mostly stands alone, I guess.

Or at least just with chips, cheese, onions, sour cream....or on hot dogs or fries.  Ha.

(Election Day Turkey-Lentil Crock-pot Chili--my last post--is one of Michelle Obama's favorite meals... well--Turkey Chili is, at any rate.)

38 Power Foods, Week 11 -- Spinach -- B"L"T Risotto

Bacon, Spinach (the "L"), and Cherry Tomato Risotto

As a kid, spinach was not my thing.  It was that slimy stuff Popeye ate.  I didn't care if he was strong.  If I had to eat spinach, I didn't want to be strong.  I wanted nothing that slid whole cloth out of any can.

My own first child adored spinach.  By then, we'd reached the American culinary stage of  gorgeous gooey-cheesy baked spinach casseroles with crispy crumbled crackers on top.  Enabled by grocery store freezers filled with vegetables year-round, we chopped, mixed, added soup or cheese, and threw stuff into ovens to our heart's content.  We were eating vegetables, weren't we?  And we liked anything with cheese or sour cream or dried onion soup mix.

50 Women Game-Changers Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian, #32 - Sullivan's Island Shrimp Bog

 
 Big bunch of bacon. (This is good.  I'm married to someone who eats anything with bacon.)  Next:  tons of onions.  Rice. Lots of shrimp, ahhh.  All cooked together in one lovely mess called a bog.  For those of us with no real connection to the south-eastern coastal states, a bog brings to mind cranberries in Maine or Wisconsin, even.  Or being stuck at work, as in:  "I'm all bogged down writing that article."  But this bog, this "Sullivan's Island Shrimp Bog," is just what it sounds like:  mounds of steamed shrimp mixed up on top of a velvety oh-so-thick tomatoed, oniony, spicy rice--perfect for brunch or a lunch bunch.  If the words "comfort food" weren't so over-used and so inappropriate (comfort food being food you had a gazillion times as a kid...), I'd call this comfort food extraordinaire.  Comfort food x100.

Just for fun, here's the wikipedia definition of a bog:   A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens.

Food for thought, I'd say.  Read on:

Basil Chicken Fried Rice or I Wokked Out

   Once I read something about lo mein being standard college fare.  Nope; not for us.  Standard college fare was pizza with the occasional delivered salad... and the salad was also full of cheese.  I know this for a very real fact.  Because I worked in the restaurant (actually there were two) that made this stuff.

 But when I read about someone's college goto being lo mein, I was jealous.  I should have gone to college THEN.  I adore lo mein and can even make a pretty darned good imitation.  Well, since then, I've moved over to adoring Thai and because I'm so late-trendy, I like Basil Chicken.  I seem to always miss it when things are "in."

And I like it when Bhan Thai makes it, not me.  Mine is ok.  Still,  knowing how much Emily also likes Thai, I started looking for easy Thai recipes with videos and I came up with Thai Food Tonight...a series of lessons and videos, etc. by Dim Geefay.   Dim brings along her American-born daughter Cathy to help translate and, between the two of them, we figure it out.  The videos were, I think, originally on tv, but are now free online.

Dave has always been our wokman, though I occasionally use it, too.  For the Basil Chicken Fried Rice, I did the planning, research, shopping,  part of the prep, table set and so on.  Dave cut the chicken (he's much better at that) and then just continued on cooking.  I stood and kibitzed while drinking a lovely halb-trocken German Riesling, which suited the Thai dish to a T.

Did I say this was YUMMY TO THE MAX?  And, unlike a lot of Asian food, it was nearly as good the next day. Yes!

Set the table before you begin to cook.

I made the rice in the afternoon and spread it out to dry on a baking sheet.

Wokman

Hates cooking alone.

Very quick, this man is.

Not sure we had the heat up high enough.

Turn off as soon as you add the basil.

Garnish with cilantro and lime.

Add pieces of cucumber for crunch and coolness.

 Basil Chicken Fried Rice  by Dim Geefay    Watch her video about how to make this dish.
4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 cups already cooked rice
• 6 big cloves of garlic, crushed (together w/ peppers w/ mortar and pestle or lrg knife)
• 2-4 Thai (bird) red and green chili peppers or 1-2 Serrano peppers, crushed  (I used 1/2 jalapeno*)
• 1/4 c cooking oil  ( I used canola; you could also use peanut.)
• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs chicken meat (I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs.)
• 3T Oyster sauce
• 2T Fish Sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, julienned
• 2 c fresh sweet basil leaves, whole
• 1 cucumber, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 c cilantro leaves
• 1 lime, cut into quarters

 Instructions:

1. Heat oil in deep pan or wok over high heat.
2. Wait until oil starts to smoke.
3. Add crushed garlic and peppers.
4. Stir quickly; don't let them burn
5. Immediately add chicken, stiring.
6. Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar.
7. Stir until chicken is cooked through. (no pink)
8. Add already cooked rice.
9. Stir quickly until sauces are blended with rice. (a couple of minutes)

*1/2 jalapeno made the dish tasty, but quite mild.  Use a whole if you like some spice.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood

-I'm busy packing.  I hate it.  Who likes it?  Enough said.  
-Had a perfect Valentine's Day..God was good; my husband was home and he made reservations at Pizzeria Rustica in Old Colorado City, one of my favorite places.  They had a food and wine pairing deal--lovely.
-Dogs got groomed and are hot to trot.  It was almost 70 F.

If only we could just get dropped off somewhere where they threw us in first a cage, then a tub, trimmed us all up, blew us dry, tied bandanas around our necks, gave us treats, and threw us back in a cage again. (Somehow it's just not the same when I go to the hair dresser's, though it's slightly reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz.  I guess I'd skip the cage.)
----------------------

If you're keeping up with some of the responses to the "Deathly Letter" from within a segment of the Presbyterian Church, USA, here is another one I found intriguing:


http://www.wilsonpresbyterian.org/2011/02/resonse-to-the-deathly-letter-to-the-pcusa-by-rev-blake-spencer-second-presbyterian-church-nashville-tn/

Very well done indeed.  If you are a Presbyterian in this country and wonder how we came to be likely to split, check this out--it's the chart of which Presbyterians came when and did what:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Connection2_900.jpg

Perhaps today isn't so unusual after all.  Pray for this church.  Pray for our seminarians.  I have to admit I'm a bit abashed about worshiping at the UCC (along with quite a few other Colorado Springs Presbyterians)...  But it's been a life-changing experience.  Not enough words available.



Sing a new song,
Alyce

Pico de Gallo Halibut on Warm Rice Salad with Bacon Pintos



Pico de Gallo Halibut on Warm Rice Salad with Bacon Pintos



   Yes, my jeans are tight.  I'm sure they shrank.   Didn't yours last month?

Whatever--I'm working on lighter meals, like this halibut, to make up for things like whole baked potatoes with butter and sour cream (Did I do that???  I did.) at MacKenzie's Chop House.

  I'm also working on a series of meals that will use each of a dozen great foods (a la Dana Jabobi's 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK) and do double duty--decrease my waistline and make me tres healthy.  How about you?  You could get in on it, too.

The list of the twelve best foods reads like this:

1. Broccoli
2. Black beans
3. Tomatoes
4. Salmon
5. Soy
6. Sweet potatoes
7. Oats
8. Onions
9. Blueberries
10. Walnuts
11. Spinach
12. Chocolate

We used sweet potatoes in the Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust (last post).  One down.  

Next is tomatoes and tomatoes we have here in abundance with our halibut.  Onions is another and we've got onions in two places here.  3 down, folks.  Ok.  Let's talk fish for the halibut.  Bad joke from the Three Stooges. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Halibut, well, it's just an incredible fish.  Meaty, bright, filling, flexible, dependable.   Currently not cheap.   Good with nearly anything.  I had (bad me) frozen two pieces that just weren't going to get cooked last week.  I also had a quart of pico de gallo (the first I've ever bought instead of made) that said, "Use within 14 days of opening."  (The 14th day was fast approaching.)  It seemed the pico and the fish were meant for one another.  Add to that I had some rice from an old favorite dish (rice with creamed pork tenderloin and mushrooms) that also needed a home and this easy, fresh  mid-week meal was born.





Warm Rice Salad in process.

If you never cooked beans, you don't know how non-descript they can look in the pot while all the while tasting scrumptious.  Definitely not my photographic skills, right?  And, yes, they take a while at altitude.   They're good in the microwave, though.  I cooked these earlier in the afternoon so they were very tender by dinner time.  You could choose canned beans, unsalted or drained and rinsed very well indeed.

The beginning of cooking the halibut--salted and peppered, it just goes into a very hot skillet with some olive oil.  Cook it for 4 minutes, turn and throw it into the oven (400 F) for about 6 minutes and it's done.

Cilantro, tomatoes and avocado for the rice salad.

When the halibut is cooked, pull it out and top with pico de gallo, thus warming the salsa.

Add the rice "salad" to warmed bowls or plates, top with fresh tomatoes, cilantro and avocado and lay the fish w/ salsa on top.  Spoon some beans along side and squeeze fresh lime over all.  Maybe a quick dust of black pepper?  Eat while it's hot.

Pico de Gallo Halibut with Warm Rice Salad and Bacon Pintos    serves 2

Beans:   (Follow directions below or use canned, drained and heated beans.)

1/2 # pinto beans (you'll have  alot left over for huevos or chili)

2 onions, chopped (divided--1 for the pintos and 1 for the rice)

3 cloves garlic, minced (divided--2 for the beans and 1 for the rice)

4 thick-cut pieces of bacon, diced

Fresh ground pepper

Tabasco

Kosher salt 

Warm Rice Salad:

1 T olive oil

(onion and garlic from above)

1 Medium zucchini, diced

1 Yellow squash, diced

2-3 c cooked rice

1/2 c fresh cilantro, divided

1 Roma tomato, diced

1 Avocado, ripe, diced

1 Lime, divided

Halibut:

2 T olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 pieces (4-6 oz) fresh or unthawed and patted dry halibut filets

1/2 c pico de gallo, home-made or store-bought 

Directions: 

1.   BEANS   --  In a 6 qt. kettle, place picked over and cleaned pinto beans and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for two minutes.  Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for an hour.  Drain and replace beans in pot; pour in about 4 qts of water.  Add 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic minced, all of the bacon, the pepper and several drops of Tabasco (or a whole, fresh jalapeno).  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2-3 hours until beans are tender.   While beans cook, check pot regularly and add water if needed.     When done, cover and keep warm  or cool and reheat when needed.  Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.
2. WARM RICE SALAD --  In a large saute pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions and squashes.  Cook, stirring frequently, for five minutes or so until nearly tender. Stir in garlic and continue to cook until all vegetables are tender.   Add rice, stir, and season well with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with most of the cilantro, saving a little bit for garnish at the end.  Squeeze the juice from half of the lime over the rice and stir.   Turn off heat and cover to keep warm while you cook the fish.   Add the fresh tomato, cilantro and avocado right at serving time.
3.   HALIBUT  --   Preheat oven to 400 F.  Heat a medium skillet over medium- high heat with 2 T olive oil.  Season fish well with salt and pepper and place skin side up in hot pan.  Do not disturb for 3-4 minutes until well-browned.  Turn fish over and place  skillet in oven for about 6 minutes until fish is firm and flaking.  Remove from oven and spoon salsa on top of each piece.  Let fish sit a minute or so.
4. TO SERVE:  Spoon rice onto warmed plates or large shallow bowls (pasta bowls are nice) and top with halibut and salsa.   Add the tomato, the avocado and cilantro to the top of the rice.  Spoon some beans to the other side of the rice and fish.  Squeeze the other half of the lime over all of the food in each bowl or plate.  Dust with pepper if you'd like.
5. Serve immediately while hot.   

What I'm Reading, Listening to, Working at or Doing around the 'Hood:

Had neighbors for dinner Sunday night at the spur of the  moment.

Enjoyed my husband at home...no travel this week.

Wondered about a job for me..did some work on that.

I'm reading DEVIL'S TRILL by Gerald Elias (I told you that.) and ordered DANSE MACABRE,  too.   Ah, violin mysteries.

 I also picked up, and started, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.  (I know--you read this in '03)

I'm still reading Barbara Brown Taylor's AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD.  Superb.
.
THE ART OF CURATING WORSHIP by Mark Pierson arrived, but I haven't started it yet.

The book club book is Isabel Allende's DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE.  Not yet, either.  Nope, I haven't begun it.

I taught piano lessons and learned alot.  I let a student choose a piece to work on and it was Bach. 

I did my best to listen to myself playing and singing old standards.  Piano bar retirement plan.  You know those jars that say, "Piano Player's 401K?"  They're real.  Put something in them, please.
.
As I write, I'm listening to Patti Digh's 37 DAYS, which you can listen to, too, right on her blog of the same name. (Link on my blog)  What would you do if you had 37 days?  Patti travels and speaks...if you can get her.

We watched "Did You Hear What Happened to the Morgans?"  Glad it happened to them, though the bears are here, too-so that wasn't so funny to me.
.
I played through/listened to the new Lenten cantata from Pepper Choplin/Lorenz.  Hm.  Jury is out there.

I think I finished washing all of the linens from Christmas.

I'm looking at local hunger issues for examiner.com and figuring out a series of articles on same. 

There's a second article about where to drink just a glass of wine in Co. Springs in the works as well.

I played with the dogs every chance I had.

Today--reupping my "Y" membership.

Talked to my daughter on the phone twice and texted back and forth to Jeanne...several times.

Spent a long time on the phone with Sue..,..such a treat.  A treat to have the time and a treat to have Sue.  Prayers here and now for Sue's father-in-law, in the last stages of cancer in Virginia.   Also praying for friend, C, recovering from surgery.

Kept up with my family via fb.  My nephew is deer hunting and I wish I could get some sausage.  One of my nieces  is on the way to new health after a long New Year's hospital stay.

Went out for supper at old-time family Italian Luigi's  to share a pizza and salad with Dave in front of their fireplace.  Listened to his work stuff and was grateful my jobs don't involve that kind of stuff.  The tough ones for me are getting mah, may, me, moh, mooo right.  Or answering questions like, "I don't see any reason why we shouldn't sing that hymn this Sunday.  You tell me why?"  I get to help make people happy, healthy and wise as they sing their hearts out or cook yum food for loved ones. 

Nice work if you can get it.

Healthy... yes. 

Thanks, God.
   
Two-Dog Kitchen

 

Be well in 2001 as you sing a new song,
Alyce





What's in a name? Welcome to the world Aaron Noah Wilkerson and Pinto Rice Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

You'll have to bear with me and read a while to get the recipe for this salad.  Yum.  It needs a better name.  Be thinking as you scroll down.

What IS in a name?  I'm pretty good with words--usually.  But once in a while I'm just stuck for a name for a recipe I've developed.  Once it was, "What do you call a Fish Taco Salad?"  I had some great answers, but just thought "Fish Taco Salad" really told the tale.  Same thing with the pinto bean rice tunzveg salad I made for tailgating last week. 

Or, just for kicks, I threw in this photo (above) of the kid and the pumpkins.  It's October.  I don't know this kid's name.  I don't remember where I got this picture.  I've looked and looked.  Who is this kid?  What's her/his? name?  It matters; it really does.  But I dunno.  If you know, tell me.

Recipe names are important, too.  They should say what the recipe is, but they should draw you in, too.  Make you want to cook, as it were.

How about here?  This is my Mom and my nephew Michael in the above pic.  Many years ago.  Mom's been gone since 1985 and Michael's in his 30's, married with children.  Mom; she was my mom.  But she had a name.  Even to my kids, she was our "Mom's mom" or "grandma."  But she definitely was Faiery Elizabeth Denny McClendon.  Born today in 1917.  Happy Birthday, Fay.  You're my screensaver, Mom. 

Here's Michael today.  With daughter Allison.  Hmm.  I wish they were here!

But then there's this little punkin.
Aaron Noah Wilkerson. 
Named for himself.
And his big brother, who's no longer here, but is among the names God calls daily in heaven.
Nearly 9 pounds and 20 inches long.  A solid chunk of humanity.  So loved. So awaited.  So beautiful.
They knew just what to call YOU!

Welcome to our world, Aaron.  We'll love having you here.  When you're bigger, you can eat some of this salad.  That I'm unsure what to call.  Maybe your Mom can help; she's good with words, too.  Good with making beautiful babies, too.  Well, Dad helped.  And everyone prayed.  And prayed.  I cannot wait to see you baptized!!

Still.  This IS a food blog.  Most of the time.  So here's my tailgating salad.  Try it.  Put different vegetables in it.  Play with the seasonings.  I found it needed citrus--acid and then a little sweetness--the butternut squash and the honey.  This makes a LOT.  And, maybe you can come up with a name.  See this little bowl I used for photography?  You'll need a bigger bowl than that, I'd guess.  We adored this.

Pinto Rice Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing  or  Here it is, Loren--you asked for it!!
12-14 servings

This was great with chicken enchiladas and sour cream.  It'd be lovely with tacos--fish  or meat.  It is also an awesome vegetarian meal...leave out the cheese for vegans.  Pretty nice for gluten-free folks, too.  WhooHoo.

3 cups cooked pinto beans (do it yourself or use rinsed canned ones)
3 cups cooked white rice
1/2 c cabbage, finely sliced
1 c cubed (small) white cheddar cheese
2 small zucchini, diced **
1 small yellow squash, diced **
3 stalks celery, diced
1 c butternut squash, cooked, peeled and diced*  (or use acorn squash)
1 avocado, barely ripe, diced
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off*  (or 1 c frozen, defrosted corn)
1 bunch green onions, chopped (white and green)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped roughly

Dressing:  Juice of 3 limes and 1/2 c olive oil, 2 cloves finely minced garlic, 1/2 t kosher salt, 1/2 t freshly ground pepper, 1/4 t ground cayenne pepper or to taste

Juices of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, 1 orange; 2T honey

1 c cherry tomatoes, cut in half

In a very large bowl or 10 qt stockpot, mix the beans through cilantro gently.  Pour 1/2 the dressing over all and mix again easily.  Taste and adjust for seasonings.  Squeeze over all the lemon, lime and orange juice.  Drizzle honey over all.  Mix again and taste for and adjust  seasonings.  Garnish with cherry tomatoes.  (Don't mix them in; they'll mush up by the next day if you keep any of this that long.)  Have the courage of your convictions and make this salad your own, changing up any of it.  I really just made it up as I went along, after beginning with the idea of a bean-rice salad that felt and tasted very fresh.

Eat now or chill and serve within 1-2 days.  Use remaining dressing at table or to moisten salad next day.

*Cook the corn and the squash in the microwave: 

 For the corn-- Place whole ears of corn with husks and silks on dampened paper towel.  Cook two ears about 4-5 minutes total.  Remove ears from microwave and wrap in foil.  Let steam for 5 minutes in foil and take off husks/silk.  Cut kernels from corn by holding cob perpendicular to (and resting against)  the cutting board.  Slice downward, cutting between the kernels and the cob itself, moving around and turning the cob as each section falls to the board.

 For the squash--Cut squash in half.  Cook one half at a time.  Place the squash in a 8" square microwave-safe glass container and pour about 1/2" water in the bottom.  Cover and cook on high 5 minutes or so.  Let sit another 5 minutes and remove squash from skin to dice on cutting board.  Make your winter squash like this often and save lots of time.

**I sauteed the zucchini and the yellow squash for just a couple of minutes before adding it to the salad; you can leave it raw or cook it, even in the microwave, too--just as you like.  Another option:  throw in for the last couple of minutes with rice or beans.

Above:  Winter Squash Fast, left, and my drained beans, right.  Try cooking the beans in the microwave, too.  They get done without getting mushy.  I like them cooked up with lots of whole onions (peels, too) and a couple of cloves of garlic..as well as a whole jalapeno and lots of salt and whole peppercorns.  You get a little heat without overwhelming the beans or the salad.  Don't forget to remove the peppercorns before eating!

Happy Fall, dear ones.  Cook a pot of beans.  Make some winter squash.  Feel autumn come. 
Sing a new song,
Alyce