Caribbean Rice and Beans

Can you tell? It's a new background! I'm still not sure why my other once disappeared, and this one looks similar...but I thought it had a nice "recipe-ish" quality to it.

I did get back into cooking, dieting, and exercise this week! Needless to say I'm tired now :) But I feel much better. I've got lots of new recipes and cookbooks to energize me, not to mention Bobby is done with Honors Surgery and will be at home for the next 4 weeks! He'll be studying for his next set of Boards, but still--he's home!

This dish is from my Cooking Light Cookbook, and I actually found it in the "Meatless Main Dishes" chapter. Don't tell my husband (no meat, no meal). But to stick to his rule, you can tell from the photo that I paired this with flat-iron steak drizzled with Chimichurri sauce (you can get it bottled at Whole Foods, fyi) and served the Caribbean Rice and Beans as a side dish. It still makes enough for a main dish, so you could do that, or have some leftovers for lunch the next day.

As usual I probably put more cheese on than it actually calls for, negating the "Light" part of Cooking Light...but I just can't help it!

Caribbean Rice and Beans

2/3 cup water
2/3 cup uncooked instant rice
1 tsp oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 diced green bell pepper
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup coarsely chopped tomato
A few shakes of salt, crushed red pepper, and cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
15 oz can black beans, drained
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook rice according to directions on the box, keep covered in saucepan and set aside. Coat large skillet with PAM or oil and add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute about 5 minutes or until tender. Add chopped tomato, salt, crushed red pepper and cumin--then saute about another 2 minutes. Stir in rice, cilantro, and black beans. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with mozzarella and serve.

Depending on how fast you chop, this could take 20 minutes. Then if you'd like to serve as a side, just have your meat grilling at the same time. I think it would also be good to add some fresh corn if it's in season. Very easy, plenty for everyone--so it's great for a weeknight as a main dish or a side!

Mom's Ribs

Well, this is now two summers in a row that I've taken an unintentional blog hiatus. Summer to everyone else seems to be a time of leisure, but for me it ends up being a time of more work, more travel, and less time for anything else. Last summer I didn't blog much because Bobby was doing a mandatory AHEC rotation in Northern Kentucky. I don't actually know what AHEC stands for, but in general it's where they send the students to under-served areas for their rotations. So since I was by myself and didn't cook, I also didn't blog. This summer he has been doing Honors Surgery (translation = working an average of 90 hours per week). If you think that's some sort of hyperbole, then you should start reading my other blog to get your facts straight. Of course that also translates to a 100% share of household things. Couple that with my "long" hours at work this summer, and there just hasn't been time. But blogging, along with a renewed commitment to diet and exercise, are things I hope to pick back up now that summer and surgery are winding down and I'm feeling much more rested.

I'll be honest, I haven't cooked anything for a while, but I'm looking forward to it! So I dug through some pictures to see what I'd made but hadn't posted yet and came across my mother's baby back rib recipe. To be fair, I think she got this from her friend Deborah, but whatever. Ribs are one of those things that are really pretty easy to do, and this recipe make it so simple that it's a shame not to make them more often! You've seen my other baby back rib recipe that used a slow cooker, but this one is totally over the stove top, just in a really large pot.


Baby Back Ribs

2 lbs baby back ribs, cut into 2-3 rib sections with sharp kitchen scissors
6-8 green onions, chopped
2 T sherry
4 T rice vinegar
6 T sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water

Layer rib sections with onions in a large soup pot (about 5 qts). Combine remaining ingredients and pour over ribs. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Cover, and cook for 2 hours--but carefully rotate the rib sections often, about every 30 minutes.

When the ribs are tender, remove them. Increase the heat, and cook the sauce down until syrupy. Put the ribs back in the pan to coat, and serve with mashed potatoes.

So good, so easy :) Ribs might seem heavy for summer, but if you eat them on an outdoor patio, they're pretty perfect. Add corn or tomatoes and any meal seems more like summer, right? I warn you that I may go through another blogging dry-spell this Fall when Bobby is away for a while, but I'm officially soliciting recipes for 1 if you've got them to share! Now I have to figure out where my pretty blog background went??!

Deluxe Guacamole

Like many good cooking ideas, this one came from Whole Foods. A few months ago on a whim I picked up a container of fresh guacamole at Whole Foods (in the produce section). It was outstanding! It became a regular item in our fridge as the weather kept getting warmer. And then after a few $6-8 containers, it occurred to me to flip it over to read the ingredients, since (duh!) I could probably make it cheaper! Especially since it was made at Whole Foods, there was unlikely to be any ingredients with more syllables than "avocado". So I scribbled them down and began a guacamole adventure of sorts that has lasted most of the summer! I've been picking up fresh avocados from Kroger or Whole Foods every Sunday and mixing and matching different ingredient ideas. Since all guacamole really comes down to a ripe avocado (and not over-doing the onion), they've all been pretty good.

This past weekend, I made the "deluxe" version. It's a kitchen-sink approach to guacamole--everything that *might* go in, did. It was fantastic! You can use all of these ingredients, or just the ones you have in the fridge, and you'll get a delicious result. Serve with Restaurant Style Tositos and an ice-cold adult beverage of your choice. I love summer!


Anne's Deluxe Guacamole

4 ripe avocados (have some give, but not mushy), pits removed
1 ripe tomato, diced
1/4 yellow onion, diced (you'd think purple onion would be better because it has that tang, but yellow is much preferred if you're not a big onion fan but like a little flavor)
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and diced into very small pieces
2 medium-sized cloves of garlic, crushed
1 handful fresh cilantro (can substitute 1-2 tsp dried)
4-6 shakes of the Tabasco bottle
5-7 shakes of salt
2 Tbs lime juice

I recommend putting the avocados in a medium-large mixing bowl first, and mashing them with a fork. Then add all remaining ingredients and blend well with the same fork or a spoon. If you have leftovers, be sure to put them in an air-tight Tupperware container. All guacamole turns a little brownish overnight, but give it a good stir the next day and the green will come back quickly. It's still good--if not better!--the next day.

Dios mio, is it Friday yet? Also, if you're looking for more I Married a Doctor posts, I promise I didn't abandon my 2nd blog, I just prefer to write them on weekends and have been a bit occupied lately! Looking forward to a quiet weekend...

Cheesy Rice and Bean Strata

You know, for some reason I always thought "Strata" meant eggs. But I guess that's a frittata? So if you know what constitutes a strata let me know. I didn't exactly follow this recipe on this one, and it turned out delicious, and probably would have been delicious even if I had. But the main lesson I learned was: 5 cups of rice is a LOT of rice. I also learned that when you have something that calls for 5 cups of rice (and probably 5 cups of anything!) you should *always* use the dish the recipe tells you to for cooking. But it called for spinach and I forgot it at the store...so I thought since I wasn't going to use spinach that I would use a dish smaller than my 9x13 Pyrex for baking. Turns out 5 cups of rice probably doesn't fit in anything except the largest baking dish possible. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I might even take it one step further to my 9x13 Le Cruset.

So since I left out the spinach, I thought I'd throw in some fresh sweet corn because we had a few leftover cobs that wouldn't last through the week otherwise--and this time of year I just can't bear to waste good sweet corn. So to get the corn off the cob and into a casserole, you want to boil it on high for 5-8 minutes, and once it gets cool you can stand it up vertically and cut down the cob with a sharp knife. Needless to say this Cooking Light recipe made a ton! We had plenty of leftovers for the week! I also wonder if it's really "Cooking Light" if you double the cheese...hmm :) It's a great vegetarian recipe that you could easily add a lb of ground beef or turkey to if you have a "no meat, no meal" eater. But it makes enough to fill anyone up, I promise. Oh! I also have to mention that a year and a half later I started using my rice cooker! I absolutely love it and cannot believe I've been making it stove-top for so long.


Cheesy Rice and Bean Strata

2 Tbs EVOO
2 cups chopped red/purple onion (I probably did 1 cup)
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 10oz package of fresh spinach (we accidentally omitted)
2 19oz cans of kidney beans, drained
16oz jar of picante sauce
12 tomato slices
5 cups cooked basmati rice
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup jack cheese, shredded
Optional 1 cup sweet corn off the cob
1-2 cups Quick Mole Marinara sauce (read on...)
Optionally top w/ sour cream and green onions

Preheat to 350 and prepare your rice. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high. Add in onion, cumin, and garlic--saute for about 2 minutes. Add spinach and saute another minute until the spinach wilts--then remove from heat. Combine beans and picante sauce in a large mixing bowl. PAM your baking dish and spread half of the bean mixture in the bottom. Top the mixture with 3 cups of cooked rice, and top with tomato slices. Layer on spinach mixture, remaining 2 cups of rice, and then second half of the bean mixture. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

While that's baking, grate the cheese and cover. Then in a medium saucepan make the Mole Marinara. I completely admit I read this sauce recipe and thought it wasn't going to be worth it! But it added a great flavor to the strata and I'd make more next time. After 30 minutes in the oven, uncover the strata and top generously with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Mole Marinara

2 Tbs EVOO
3 Tbs minced Anaheim chile
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
Half jar of your favorite marinara (I used Paul Newman's Shock-a-something or other)
2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp dried cilantro

Combine and heat on medium while strata bakes.

Barbecued Flank Steak w/ Chutney-Bourbon Glaze

Oh my that's a title! I love it when things sound super-fancy but really take no work at all. This was absolutely delicious, and we were heartbroken when we couldn't finish it all! The only downside was I tried a new recipe for stuffed tomatoes (shown) with ricotta, lemon zest, and garlic...which sound fantastic, but were incredibly disappointing. No thanks to Rachel Ray on that one. But the flank steak comes out of my Cooking Light Cookbook, and was great for a warm evening during the week. Could also be good for a nice Father's Day meal! Flank steak is also difficult to photograph...so it may not look as appetizing as I swear it is.



Barbecued Flank Steak with Chutney-Bourbon Glaze

1 lb flank steak
1/3 cup peach or mango chutney
1/3 cup pineapple juice
3 Tbs bourbon (or apple juice if you feel boring)
1 1/2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Tabasco 2 cloves of garlic, minced

Prepare your grill (we don't have an outdoor grill, but this worked just fine on the Forman). Add all ingredients into a large ziploc bag to marinate. Keep in the refridgerator for at least 15 minutes (I think we marinated for about an hour). Remove and place steak on grill, reserving marinade. Pour remaining marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally, and remove from heat to thicken. Grill steak about 8 minutes per side or until it's cooked to your liking. Cut flank steak strips on a diagonal and serve drizzled with the glaze.

It was a great combination of flavors--I'd recommend some fresh sweet corn on the side :-) I also just learned how to boil sweet corn: remove husks and wash. Place corn cobs in large pot of water with 1/4 c sugar and bring to a boil. Boil approx 8-10 minutes and remove. Summer food is the best! :)

Summer picks

Make no mistake about it--Summer is my favorite season! The only downside is that sometimes, it's just too hot to eat. So while I cook a little less, I do have a few simple things I seem to be growing quite attached to as we hit the mid 90s...

1. Greek Yogurt

I eat a lot of yogurt, usually Yoplait Light. I got really curious about Greek yogurt a few weeks ago because I kept hearing about all the great health benefits. So I looked it up and sure enough it has nearly double the protein as regular yogurt, while staying relatively close in fat in calories. You can easily get fat free, and only about 10 additional calories--but the trade off for double the protein is completely worth it. If you like thicker yogurt, and I do, definitely give it a try. But keep in mind, not all Greek yogurt is created equal when it comes to taste! Believe me, I've tried all kinds. There are not as many flavors as you find with other yogurts....no Blueberry Pie or any of those other flavors that annoying woman on the Yoplait commercials goes on and on about. But so far both Yoplait and Dannon make plain, vanilla honey, strawberry and blueberry flavors. At Whole Foods I saw another brand with caramel. If you want to try out Greek yogurt, please please please get the Dannon! I was so disappointed going through the Yoplait, but I wasn't ready to give up. The Dannon flavors are by far the best. In the mornings I like to empty the container into a cereal bowl and add fresh berries and that new low-fat Special K Granola. I love parfaits...but just remember the ones you make yourself will always be better! Also worth noting that when I would eat the 100 calorie Yoplait, I'd be starving by lunch. With Greek yogurt, I stay full all morning. So that's huge for me. Also avoid the plain. It's a great substitute for sour cream...but it's a great substitute for a reason...

2. Veggie Sandwiches

Obviously I'm no vegetarian. I often tease Bobby that he wouldn't have even dated me if I had been...which he doesn't find funny one bit! But I've liked veggie sandwiches since high school. They remind me of Kate :) They're great because they're obviously pretty low in fat and calories, and you can always make something different. So I've been giving myself a few extra minutes in the morning to plan for additional slicing time. With extra-fiber whole grain bread (about 60-70 calories per slice), I'll add 2 Tbs of reduced fat chive and onion cream cheese to one side. Then top with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper (switch up the color for new flavors), and sprouts. For extra flavor, I've discovered that adding whole fresh basil leaves is great. If you're not a cream cheese person, you can add Dijon mustard and/or another slice of cheese like Havarti or provolone.

3. Gigantic bowls of fruit salad

This is not a new thing in my kitchen! Every Sunday during the summer time, Bobby and I raid the produce section and bring home anything and everything that's fresh. I wash the berries, he chops the melons, pineapples, and kiwis, and we throw everything into a HUGE bowl. The biggest one we have clean at the time usually. It usually lasts 3-5 days depending on the quantity, and we eat it as snacks, desserts, or side dishes all week long. No need to add poppy-seed dressing (gag me!) because a good mix will have tons of flavor and that's just a filler. The only thing to note about gigantic fruit salads is that you don't want to add bananas (they turn brown) or cherries (pits!). We keep those around all summer too, but eat them separately. But otherwise: watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, kiwi, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries are our favorites!

4. Smoothie King

With as much fruit and yogurt I keep around, you'd think I'd be all about making fresh smoothies. And I do recommend it if you can. But I'm lazy and don't like cleaning my blender that often! So I hit up Smoothie King whenever possible :)

5. Banana Coladas

Bobby and I discovered the magic of banana coladas on our honeymoon in Antigua. We now make them whenever we can find coconut milk, and bring them to the pool in freezer cups. I'm not really sure if that's allowed, but the lifeguard hasn't turned us away yet. To make a banana colada add ice, dark rum, coconut milk, fresh ripe bananas (read: brown), and powdered sugar. You may want more/less sugar depending on your preferences.

Other non-food related things I'm into right now: Yoga, spray tanning, and sundresses. I'm also starting a new blog that I wish I would have started three years ago about our whole med school...med world, really...experience. The link is over on the right column. I haven't started it yet, but I will this weekend. Just something to share our experiences, help me process things, and try to show others what our life is like as we wrap med school and enter residency in the year to come. Because if one more person thinks I'm exaggerating when I say 80hrs a week, I might hit them. 80 hours if we're LUCKY! See...I need an outlet HA!

Blog Invasion!

So Anne left town and I'm left to fend for myself. Not being the planner in the household, I decided to open up the fridge and see what I could throw together. It was a long week for both of us, resulting in many failed dinner plans. My solution? Take everything out of the veggie drawer and chop it to bits. Grab the chicken tenderloins and chop those up too. Throw them all in the wok with Tabasco and crushed red pepper. Mix it all and you have: Kitchen Sink Stir Fry

--Bobby