Super Easy Cilantro-Lime Rice

I suck at making rice.

I can’t buy the big cheap bags of rice and make perfectly fluffy rice. I always screw it up somehow. So I gave up trying and use instant rice instead.

And they lived happily ever after. The end.

So I shared this photo over the weekend of my little puppy Gravy (my dad calls him Gravy Boat), watching me try and get a fair photo of the Cilantro-Lime Rice. He was VERY interested in the rice but he got a puppy treat instead. I'm pretty sure he was just as happy with it.

This is a simple and easy recipe that makes a great side dish for when you have tacos or enchiladas or anything other Mexican meal. It’s also great for a burrito filling too. But the best part is that it’s ready in about 10 minutes!

What I love about this rice is the fresh and vibrant flavor it has from the lime juice and cilantro. I think it’s a great compliment to any spicy dish.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

*Makes 2 cups cooked rice

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

-          1 cup uncooked instant rice

-          1 cup chicken or veggie broth (water is fine but doesn’t add extra flavor)

-          2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

-          Zest of one lime

-          1-2 tablespoons fresh minced cilantro

-          Salt and pepper

Helpful Tools:

-          A sauce pot with a tight fitting lid

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pot bring the broth to a boil. Add rice and turn off burner. Cover tightly and let sit for about 7-8 minutes. A little longer is fine.

2. When broth is fully absorbed, fluff rice with a fork and add lime zest, lime juice, and up to 2 tablespoons of cilantro. How much cilantro you add will be up to your taste. Start with a smaller about and then season with salt and pepper.

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Turkey Day Favorite: Green Bean Casserole

Let me start by saying it was never my intention to make and post a green bean casserole recipe for this blog. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes out there claiming to be the best, better than Campbell’s, better than your mother’s, and most are completely made from scratch.

The world didn’t need another one. Yet here I am, posting one.

Why?

Because I needed to use up a lot of green beans and I happened to like the way it came out.

You see, when Brent and I do our major bulk shopping trips, we always pick up some frozen vegetables. Sure, we prefer fresh, but some nights you just don’t feel like shopping so we keep a few options on hand. We decided it was a totally wise decision on our part to buy a 5lb bag of frozen whole green beans for two people.

It’s been 3 months and we still aren’t through the whole bag yet. So one night I decided to take a stab at making green bean casserole since I had mushrooms to use up as well.

Now I’m not going to tell you it is better than anyone else’s, or the best ever, but I will say this…

I can’t tell you what the hell else I made for dinner that night and I might never make the original version again. Even though I always did doctor that recipe up a bit anyway.

It’s good, maybe not the best, but I did add bacon to it, so it does have that going for it. BUT you can totally leave it out of you are a vegetarian. Just substitute with more butter =) Win-win!

So below is my recipe that I totally threw together and it ended up coming out pretty good. For the record, I was planning on frying my own onions up for the top, but Brent said that was ”ridiculousness” and we decided on the panko topping listed below. Which I thought worked pretty well because you need that crispy onion topping on a GBC.

Also, if you want to use fresh green beans instead of frozen, just blanch them first and you should be good to go.

Green Bean Casserole

*Serves 4-6
Print this recipe

Ingredients:
- 1 pound frozen whole green beans, thawed
- 3 slices bacon, cut into strips
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 extra large garlic clove, minced
- 2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 3.5 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 pinches nutmeg
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Scant ½ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper

Directions:

1- In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat cook sliced bacon until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon – leaving the grease in the pan – and set aside in a medium bowl.

Smoked Gouda and Pancetta Potatoes Au Gratin

So the other day I posted a quick poll about what type of potato dish I should make with leftover smoked gouda and pancetta. I didn’t get any feedback before diner time, so I made an executive decision to make the au gratin style. I've made gratins many times so I just went with my standard ratios and adjusted them for the size dish.

I’m an incredibly indecisive person, so this was tough.

I was so happy with how these turned out. It doesn’t always happen that when testing a new recipe I come up with on the fly comes out so well. Sometimes it takes two or three trials before I feel a dish is good enough to share. I got lucky on this one…not that I would have minded making them a few more times because they are really, really yummy.

Smoked Gouda and Pancetta Potatoes Au Gratin

*Serves 4
(printable recipe)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb russet potatoes
- 1.5 cups of smoked gouda, shredded
- 2 ¼” thick slices of pancetta, diced small
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
- splash of oil
- salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a small sauté pan over medium high heat, add a small amount of oil and the diced pancetta. Sauté until pancetta is browned and then remove from heat onto a paper towel to remove excess oil. Peel your potatoes and slice 1/8” thick. If you have a mandolin – bust it out! Set aside.

Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes with Mustard and Thyme

It would appear that roasted potato recipes are sought after rather frequently. I get a lot of hits from people looking for rosemary and garlic RRBP’s, a recipe I posted last year. Recently I had a small surplus of them in my house thanks to Brent making a southern dish that he likes. My New England roots don’t care for that dish too much, but I did want to make use of the leftover potatoes hanging around. So I checked the fridge to see what I had to work with and this recipe is the result.

Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes with Mustard and Thyme

*Serves 4
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
- 1 ½ lbs red bliss potatoes
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons course mustard, adjust to your taste preference
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Wash potatoes, pat dry, and cut into quarters. Toss in butter and 2 tablespoons of EVOO and place in a baking dish in a single layer. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, giving a toss halfway through.

2. In a small bowl mix together mustard, thyme, white wine vinegar, and remaining olive oil. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside while potatoes roast.

Chorizo and Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing

Or for you Southern Folk – Chorizo and Jalapeno Cornbread Dressing

In a word… this is NOM. Stuffing is by far my favorite item on a Thanksgiving Day menu. Personally, I love when there is a more traditional savory stuffing and then a different one to eat as well. I actually went to one home a long time ago and they had THREE stuffing dishes. It was heaven, let me tell you.

This stuffing is a bit spicy, so I probably wouldn’t stuff the bird with it if that is your thing. But the good thing about it is that it’s delicious and I believe would make an awesome side dish anytime of the year.

Chorizo and Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing

*Serves 8-10
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons of butter, divided
- 2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ cup sliced jarred jalapenos, rinsed and diced*
- 1 lb raw chorizo*
- 5 cups cornbread, dried and crumbled**
- 4 cups chicken broth
- pepper, to taste

* As I mentioned above this is a spicy dish. If you don’t like very spicy things you can reduce the jalapenos to 1 tablespoon and the chorizo to ¾ a pound.
** You can use fresh cornbread or the bag variety. If using fresh, crumble and dry out in the oven on a low heat.

Directions:

Potato Pancakes

I love taking leftovers and giving them a makeover for their second appearance at the dinner table. Potato pancakes are one of my favorite ways to use up leftover mashed potatoes.

Potato Pancakes with Mustard-Dill Sauce

*Serves 4

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

- 2-3 cups day old mashed potatoes
- 1 tablespoon flour
- Vegetable or canola oil for pan frying
- 1/3 cup sour cream

- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

- 1/8 teaspoon dried dill (double if using fresh)


Potato Pancake Directions:

1. Mix the tablespoon of flour into your mashed potatoes to help stiffen them a bit. If yours are really mushy, you may need to add a little more flour.

I have a tear in my eye as I write this post...

Recipe: Cheesy Baked Leeks

Over the last two weeks I’ve developed, written, photographed, and eaten several lovely dishes. I also had my next “How to Basics” photographed step-by-step. But you see my desktop is currently getting a bit of an overhaul at the moment, so I attempted to get some work done on my laptop.

This was a big mistake. My laptop literally ATE all of my photos.

And of course, I delete them as they are uploaded so they are gone off my memory card now too. I cried. But not an all out sob or anything, I swear.

So now I have a conundrum. Post without pictures, or make everything again?

I’ve decided to go ahead and post each of them anyway. I’ve only done this once before, and I’m not a huge fan of it but oh well.

This is a recipe for leeks. Baked leeks with cheese, mushrooms, and bacon. I’ve never worked with leeks before, but we had several in the fridge for another dish and they needed to be used. So I grabbed several other things in my fridge and this is what I came up with. Ok that may be confusing... I've added leeks to recipes, but I've never made a dish where leeks were the main component.

In all honesty, I thought this dish was going to be a failure. It wasn’t. It was intoxicatingly delicious. I made it almost a week ago and I’m STILL thinking about it. I want so badly to make it again, but Brent hates repetition when it comes to dinner so I will need to wait for now.

Cheesy Baked Leeks
(printable recipe)
*Serves 2, maybe 3

Ingredients:
- 3 large leeks
- ½ cup mushrooms, sliced
- ½ teaspoon garlic, minced (about 1 clove)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- ½ cup shredded provolone
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste

Raviolini Pasta Salad

This was my third attempt at making this salad. I originally got the idea from a local Fresh Market that had mini ravioli in a sun-dried tomato oil-based pasta salad. I bought it because it had mini ravioli. That and because most pasta salads you find are mayo based and I don’t do mayo. While BD and I both liked their version, we both agreed there was too much seasoning and needed a little improvement. I’m happy with how this batch turned out because I was about ready to give up. Third times the charm!

Raviolini Pasta Salad

*Serves 6

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

- 1 9oz package of mini cheese ravioli

- 1 cup chunk cut pepperoni

- 1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped

- 2 tablespoons butter

- 2.25 ounce can black olives, sliced

- 1/4 cup scallions

- ½ cup any color bell pepper, sliced thin

- ½ cup shaved parmesan
- Salt and Pepper

Dressing:
- 1/2 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes (SDT) packed in oil
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

- 3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar (RWV)

- 1 small garlic clove, skin removed

- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

- 2 tablespoon SDT oil

Directions:

1- Cook the ravioli according to the package and set aside when done. In a sauté pan, melt butter and sauté mushrooms over medium high heat until lightly browned. About 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. Prep remaining ingredients.

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots, Sage, and Pancetta

A while back a friend of mine shared the idea of mashed potatoes with caramelized shallots and sage. I loved the idea of this and thought it would be good, but maybe even better if I added some pancetta to the mix. I decided to make them for a special occasion not too long ago as a side for a Prime Rib roast BD and I did. They really don’t require a whole lot of extra work than regular mashed potatoes and really add an extra nice touch. You could use your own mashed potato recipe, but I’ve included my basic one in this here.

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots, Sage, and Pancetta

*Serves 2-4

(Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

For mashed potatoes -

- 1.5 pounds of potatoes

- 3 tablespoons of butter

- ½ - ¾ cup heavy cream

- Salt and pepper to taste

The mix-ins -

- 2 quarter inch thick slices of pancetta

- 2 medium or 3 small shallots, sliced thin

- 2 tablespoons of minced fresh sage (if using dried use half the amount)

- A heaping tablespoon of butter

Pantry Rice Pilaf

This is a very easy side. In fact, I tried to keep it as uncomplicated as possible. I think the hardest part is cutting the thin spaghetti. If you’re like me, everything you need to make this version of Rice Pilaf is in your fridge or pantry. That’s why I dubbed it Pantry Rice Pilaf.

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes

I think there is truly something magical about how rosemary and garlic can come together. While this side dish does take a little bit of time to cook, its very low maintenance. Toss it all in a casserole dish and throw it into the oven. A little over an hour later – viola! A tasty side that is almost – I’ll reiterate almost – as good as mashed potatoes.

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes

Serves 4

(print recipe)

Ingredients:
- 1.5 lbs of red bliss potatoes

- 2 sprigs of rosemary, removed from stems

- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed

- ¾ cup melted butter

- S&P to taste

Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes

I love twice baked potatoes. How could you not? You get mashed potatoes AND the crispy baked potato skin. It’s like hitting a home run…. only better because its potatoes. I’m only slightly ashamed to admit this but I was inspired to make these from the reality show Husbands of Hollywood. I’ve watched the show two …. or ten times. I am a reality show junkie. Anyway, the last episode I happened to catch one of the husbands made twice baked potatoes for his wife. This was about a week ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since.

Twice Baked Potatoes

(print the recipe)

Note: Use these measurements only as a rough guide. You may need to make adjustments based on the size of your potatoes. Therefore add butter, sour cream, and heavy cream little by little.

Ingredients:

- 4 large russet or baking potatoes

- 2 tablespoons of butter

- 3 tablespoons of sour cream

- 4oz heavy cream

- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

- ¼ chopped scallions

- 8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

- S&P

Procedure:

1. Wash your potatoes well and place in a 400 degree oven. Depending on the size, they will take between an hour to an hour and a half. Once they are cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes. While they are baking, slice your scallions, and cook the bacon.

2. Once cool enough to handle, slice the top third of the potato off. Then carefully remove the inside.

 Also, remember to scoop the potato from the tops into your bowl. Don’t scrape it all the way down to the skin. Leave a little potato to help keep the skin sturdy enough to hold the mixture.

3. Add the butter to the bowl with the potato. Using a potato masher, mash potatoes until incorporated.

You can use a mixer as well. Then add your sour cream, S&P and mash again. Lastly add the heavy cream little by little until you reach the right consistency. You want them to be soft, not stiff or runny.

4. Next add your bacon, cheese, and scallions – mix with a spoonula. Add more S&P if desired.

I could have eaten them just like this

5. Spoon the mixture into each of the potato halves. I mounded mine up fairly high. Top each with some extra pepper.

Place in 400 degree oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

My thoughts: The potato was soft and creamy. Initially, I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough cheese, but I was wrong. The cheese melted and the flavor went throughout the potato. The bacon and scallions didn’t overwhelm the mixture and were nice little “surprises” in every bite.

These were HUGE – they seriously could have been a whole meal alone. BD couldn’t even finish his, but I was a champ and ate all of mine. I had too, ya know for research.

A Dish of Favorite Veggies...AND Bacon!

Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables. I came up with this recipe a few months back when BD and I were making a beer can chicken. They were a hit, and we’ve been making them every since. They do take a bit of time because of all the sautéing but are worth it in the end. Plus, I’m a sucker for anything with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and bacon on it.

Fully Loaded Green Beans

(print the recipe)

Ingredients:

- 1 pound of fresh green beans

- 1.5 cups of sliced button mushrooms

- 1 large white or yellow onion, sliced

- 8-10 slices of bacon *can be omitted for a vegetarian dish

- 4 tablespoons of butter

- 1 tablespoon garlic powder

- S&P

Procedure:

1. To start, snap your green beans, wash and slice the mushrooms, and slice the onion.

2. Start your bacon anyway you prefer to cook it. Once cooked, chop into bacon bits.

3. In a large skillet, melt two tablespoons of butter. Add mushrooms and sauté until lightly brown. Remove mushrooms, leaving the liquid in the pan. Set mushrooms aside.

Mushrooms - couple minutes in

4. Add onions and one more tablespoon of butter to pan, and over low heat sauté until caramelized. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

Onions almost done!

5. Bring a large pot of water to a hard boil and blanche green beans for five minutes. Remove from water, drain, and rinse with cold water.

6. Once onions are caramelized, add remaining butter, mushrooms, green beans, and garlic powder to the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss everything together for a few minutes, then add bacon and toss again. Serve immediately.

Fully Loaded Green Beans

My thoughts: The green beans stay nice and crisp and get a lot of flavor from the pepper and butter. plus with the added onions, mushrooms, and bacon they really get dressed up nicely. Green beans almondine USE to be my favorite way to eat them, but this recipe trumps that every time.

Kitten ^..^

Popeye would Approve Sauteed Spinach

When I was a kid I hated spinach, probably like most other kids. I can’t remember when I started to like it, but I believe it was early in my college years and I had some Spinach dip. Now I use it in a lot of dishes. The recipe below is for Sautéed Spinach with pan fried garlic and shaved parmesan. So simple to make and yet is full of flavor.

Sauteed Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

- 1 lb of fresh baby spinach

- 4 cloves of fresh garlic

- shaved parmesan

- 2 tablespoons of EVOO

- S&P

Procedure:

1- Slice each garlic clove thin length-wise and sauté over medium heat until a light golden brown. Takes maybe 5 minutes. Be careful not too burn it though!

2- Add spinach and toss until slightly wilted. This takes only a few minutes. Add S&P to taste.

3- Transfer to serving dish and toss in several tablespoons of shaved parmesan.

You’re DONE! It’s that easy. With pan-frying the garlic, it infuses the EVOO which coats the spinach as you toss it. The parmesan will get slightly soft from the spinach, but adds a nice salty-nuttiness to the dish.

My thoughts on this dish: I love spinach now almost anyway you can make it and incorporating it with two of my other favorite ingredients – garlic and parmesan – you get a home run in my opinion. This makes a great side dish for when you’re making pasta, but would like a vegetable on the side rather than a salad. It’s probably even easier than making a salad because you don’t need to cut all the veggies!

Triple the Cheese, Please!: Parm Tater Tots and Phake Phillies

Last Wednesday night DB ended up having the night off. Usually he is working at the restaurant on Wednesday so I get a chance to relax, catch up on the DVR, be lazy, and NOT cook. My plan of rummaging in the fridge for something to eat and watching the Real Housewives of NJ was foiled. So I ended up whipping together some Philly Cheese steaks and some Parmesan tossed tater tots. Quick, easy and cheap.

One of our food staples is frozen Philly steak meat. I'd never had it before and honestly was a little grossed out by it when BD wanted to buy some. Then a couple of years ago on X-mas Eve he made a couple for us before we went out. I was pretty shocked at how quick and yummy it was.

Philly Cheese steaks - A fast and loose recipe!

Ingredients:
- Sliced Onion
- Sliced green, red, yellow (whatever color!) bell pepper
- Sliced Mushrooms
- Philly Meat (or left over steak sliced really thin)
- Garlic - powder or minced
- Rolls
- Cheese! I used Provolone and American

Procedure:
1- Slice your veggies and saute in a little EVOO or butter till tender. Remove from pan and set aside.
2- *Some brands want the meat thawed and others don't so be sure to check for that.* Throw it in the pan, sprinkle with S&P and garlic to taste. Cook until thoroughly done.
3- Throw veggies back in the pan and toss together.
4- Place mixture on bread and top with cheese. (as much or as little as you want)
5- Throw under a broiler until cheese is melty.

Parmesan Tater Tots
*This is sooooo easy and makes tater tots even better than they already are.

Ingredients:
- Frozen Tater Tots
- Parmesan Cheese - grated
- S&P
- Garlic and Onion powder

Procedure:
1- Take tots and place on a sheet pan.
2- Lightly coat in melted butter or EVOO
3- Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to taste.
4- Bake according to package.
5- When done sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and toss to coat.


What I like about this meal is that even though its not fancy, hard or takes a lot of time - it still have a homemade quality to it. Plus its great comfort food.

While I was at the grocery store picking up a few things I needed for dinner that night I wandered into the bakery. BAD IDEA. I came across these Brownie Cookies. Soft cookies with walnuts and chunks of white chocolate in them. Sooooo good. And with a cold glass of milk I was in heaven.

I made DB hide the other two from me so I wouldn't eat them too!

Whipped Potatoes

Creamy Whipped Potatoes

Inspiration: Nothing special really. I wanted to do something different because I generally will only eat plain mashed/whipped potatoes when I have some tasty gravy to pour over them. Still this is my basic recipe I use either for "as is" or as a jumping point for something with a little more pizazz.

*This recipe is technically for two though we did have a decent amount of leftovers.

(print recipe)

Ingredients:

- Two large Idaho potatoes

- 4 tablespoons of butter

- approx 1/2 cup of heavy cream

- Lots of Salt and Pepper

Procedure:

1. Peel and chop potatoes and then drop into a pot of boiling water. (Be sure to rinse the potatoes after peeling them)

2. Stir occasionally until potatoes are done. They are done when they are fork tender. The amount of time depends on how big or small you chopped them. 15 minutes for mine for example.

3. Drain potatoes and then place back in the hot pot for a few minutes.

4. Add two tablespoons of butter and using a masher - mash potatoes until most of the chunks are gone. **I do this first because its then easier to whip them and you don't have potato flying across the kitchen - true story.

5. Add about 1/3 of the cream and using a hand mixer (or beater you might call it) start to whip the potatoes. Slowly add more cream and butter until you get your desire consistency.

6. Add S&P to taste.

*Serve immediately or place on a warm burner to keep warm.

My thoughts on this dish: Its pretty standard and really simple but it comes out tasty. I prefer to use buttermilk instead of heavy cream but DB hates buttermilk.

Side note: If you use buttermilk and reduced fat cream cheese you can make a lower calorie mashed potato.