So I finally reheated something.

I’ve been straying from my kitchen lately.  I’ve been eating out and ordering in far too often.  I’m starting to miss cooking.  You see, I am a Foodie.  I love to eat.  I love to cook.  I love to make food and share it with my friends.  I love to write short choppy sentences.  Its time I got back to my roots and started focusing on what why this site was created.

Good food doesn’t have to come from 4 star restaurants and expensive magazines.  It can just as easily come from the heart, soul, and refrigerators of normal folks.  So grab your tupperware, we’re gonna make some primo grub…and then we’re gonna reheat it and eat it again tomorrow.

This is an easy dish that packs a lot of flavor.  It can easily be expanded to serve multiple people and the leftovers keep well.

Ingredients:

1 frozen chicken breast
1 serving left over rissoto
6-8 broccoli florettes (frozen or fresh)
2 cloves garlic, sliced long and thin
1 T olive oil
1 T worcestershire sauce
1 T butter, cubed
salt and pepper

Method:

In a small oval dish, add the olive oil, worcestershire sauce and the frozen chicken breast.  Put a foil tent over the dish and place it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  That should cook the chicken through.  If it doesn’t, put it back in for 5 minutes at a time till its done.  Once the chicken is cooked, remove the foil tent (carefully, we’re gonna put it back on) and add the risotto around the outside of the chicken.  On top of that, space the brocolli pieces so that none are touching.  Toss the garlic slices in and place the butter cubes evenly around the dish.  Replace the foil tent and put it back in the oven for another 15 mins.  Check that the broccoli is cooked.  If not, put it back in the oven.  Don’t worry aboutdrying out the chicken.  With the foil in place, very little of the moisture in the dish can escape.  Once everything is cooked through, remove the foil and serve hot.

Enjoy
-E

Tags: Broccoli, Chicken, Risotto

Stuffed peppers are a long time favorite of mine.  Warm, hearty, and filling, they are one of my most treasured comfort foods.  They’re also cheap!  And did I mention versatile?  You can stuff them with anything from meats, cheese, pastas, even other peppers.  With so much variety, choosing what to use as stuffing can almost be overwhelming.  My advice is to just pick stuff that sounds good together.  Choose another food you’re familiar with and replicate it via stuffed pepper.  You like sausage and onion pizza?  Stuff your pepper with sausage, onions, cheese and tomato sauce.  See?  Easy :)  This particular recipe produces a rich vegetarian stuffed pepper sure to please even the  meat eaters in the crowd.

Ingredients:

2 Large Bell peppers
1/2 C Jasmine Rice
1 C Fucili Pasta
1/2 C Almond milk (leave out if using the curry option)
1 Can Black Beans
2 T slivered almonds
1 t ground cayenne
Pinch of fresh lavender
Salt and Pepper to taste

optional:
8 oz Coconut Milk
1 T Red curry paste

Method:

note: If you are using the curry, then start by  thoroughly combining the coconut milk and curry paste in a small sauce pan and placing it over medium heat.   Stir occasionally throughout the rest of the process.

First, lets start the rice.  I like to use a rice cooker as it prevents any mistakes and doesn’t have to be watched over.  If you don’t have one, that’s fine, just follow the instructions on your rice.  Once that gets going, get some water in a pot and place it over high heat.  Once it boils, we will add the pasta to this.  While the water is heating, go ahead and open the can of beans.  Strain the beans and add to a large bowl.  Also go ahead and add the almonds and cayenne.  Go check on the water…is it boiling?  Good.  Add the pasta and cook for about 5 mins or until al dente.  When done, strain pasta in a colander and add it to the large bowl with beans.  When the rice is ready, go ahead and add it to the bowl as well.  Now that everything is in the bowl, mix it together really well and add salt and pepper to your taste.  Let this sit while you you remove the tops and cores from the bell peppers.  Be sure to rinse the peppers to remove any seeds that may be inside.  Using a large spoon, stuff the mixture from the bowl into the peppers.  Go ahead and pack it in there pretty good.

If you are using the almod milk, pour half into each stuffed pepper.

If you are using the curry,use a ladle toadd the curry mixture to each pepper.  Keep filling until the liquid just reaches the top of the pepper.

Place the peppers into a 350 degree oven for about 30 mins to cook the pepper and bring the stuffing together.  Its a good diea to place them in a baking dish first to catch any spillover.

Once the peppers are cooked, remove them from the oven and serve while still hot.

Enjoy,
-E

Tags: Curry, Pasta, pepper, rice, Vegetarian