Artichoke Rice Salad

Here's an old post from my Facebook "Notes" page that I thought I should also include here because the dish is so tasty :)  I no longer have a photo so here's one I found on Google Images:

June 15, 2010
We celebrated Grace's birthday at our house last night (Mark's mommy)...I tried out a new recipe to compliment Mark's amazing grilled, cedar plank salmon. The cold rice salad was very fresh and summery or as Mark said: "it's a burst of fresh flavors with every bite"

RECIPE (found this on CDKitchen.com):

2 cups cooked rice (I used minute rice)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 medium green onions, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped (I accidentally purchased yellow and it was still delish)
1 can (14 oz size) artichoke hearts, drained, cut into fourths

***Lemon Vinaigrette***
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Directions:

Cook rice in water as directed on package.

In medium bowl, mix rice and remaining salad ingredients.

In small bowl, mix all vinaigrette ingredients with wire whisk until blended. Add to salad; toss to mix. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled.

 

Dinner in 15 minutes?! Vegetarian Taco Salad!

OK, so if I go to the gym after work I don't get home until late and by that point I am ready to eat ANYTHING.  But if I did that the whole hour at the gym would be wasted.  Now that I'm cooking I tend to have some random ingredients around from various recipes and I am starting to learn what goes together.  Today I knew I needed to get some protein and veggies in my system so I created this vegetarian taco salad:

Me Gusta Ensalada de Taco

INGREDIENTS
1 can black beans
1 tablespoon of cajun spices*
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
A few good shakes of hot sauce
2 stalks/stems (whatever they are) green onions, chopped
1 sliced roasted red pepper
Romaine lettuce
If desired:
Ranch dressing
Shredded cheese (cheddar, colby, jack...)
5 or so tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS
Put the beans in a saucepan, juice and all--crank the stove to a 6 (medium to medium-high heat).  Add green onions and cajun spices, cover.  Take the Romaine lettuce heart/stalk/whatever it is, wash and chop then set aside.  Add the roasted red pepper slices, red pepper flakes and hot sauce to the beans then re-cover.  Eventually the bean mixture should begin to simmer (that doesn't sound very professional but it's true and hey, I'm not a professional).  Let this simmer a minute or so and with a slotted spoon dish out the goodness on top of the lettuce leaving the liquid behind.  Add a drizzle of Ranch dressing or a good grab of shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips.

*Cajun Seasoning with Green Onions by Cajun Land is something I picked up in New Orleans when I was there for work last year. You can order using the link above but here's what is listed in the ingredients list; I have to think you could mimic at home:
-salt
-spices
-onion
-garlic
-red pepper
-green onion

Comforting food

T spent the weekend with us and since she likes both cooking and macaroni-n-cheese I thought this would be a perfect dish....then I remembered that most kids like Kraft or Velveeta Mac-n-Cheese so this might not be as big a hit as I first thought.  I was right but it was still fun to make!  This is slightly adapted from Patti LaBelle's recipe she made on Oprah forever ago, "Over-the-Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese." The result is a creamy, filling dish and the cheese combinations work well together without being overly fancy.

Sara's "Sitting-on-top-of-the-Rainbow-with-Patti-LaBelle" Macaroni and Cheese

INGREDIENTS:

1lb Elbow Macaroni or similar (I used Rotini this time but will likely stick to the ‘bows)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) Butter
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Muenster Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Monterey Jack
2 Cups Half-And-Half (this is the same as one pint)
1 Cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter (or Pam spray) a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.

 2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until it is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well.

3. In the now empty cooking pot, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Return pasta to the cooking pot and stir thoroughly. In a large bowl, mix the  shredded cheeses (Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack). To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

3.5. If you desire a “crunchy top” as my husband calls it mix about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs with one-ish tablespoon of melted butter, then top the dish with this crust. I inadvertantly left the butter out of my creation (pictured below) so the crust was kind of lame.  I've also read about using corn flakes or potato chips as a crunchy top...will have to try that and let you know!

4. Bake until it's bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Here is a quick image...we definitely ate a helping or two before we stopped to take a picture:

Easy Vegetarian

Ha, that title made me laugh.

Since the wedding is done and there's no more planning I spend my free time using my sweet new pots and pans.  I've been doing some Google searches for a blog by a vegetarian. Half the ones I found had recipes with Chicken or Venison.  The other half featured 147 ingredients and an equal number of photos of actually making the dish OR ramblings about the "vegetarian lifestyle."  Obviously kind of boring.

So this blog will now morph to house my recipes, I have had lots of "friends" on Facebook try out the simple vegetarian recipes I make--most are variations of recipes I find in magazines or newspapers or online.  Maybe some other folks will too!

Updates and recipes are a-coming!

slacking on the updates

seriously behind.  thank you notes did go out though....woo....

Next blog button

I should stop hitting that "next blog" button at the top...I get sucked in to other people's writing...for WAY too long.  But today I found my way to this one and if I link my blog to theirs I am entered to win a delightful dress.  It's 100% impractical but it makes me want to get married (again) on a rocky beach.  Somewhere up north perhaps?  Is three months too early for a vow renewal?  Plus, I love seeing someone with innovative marketing ideas...a giveaway in exchange for free press?  Fantastic plan!

Updates of randomness

1. We hosted our first party in our new place, 41 family/friends came!!!  So far, there only appears to be one small brownish colored spot on the carpet.  Impressive considering Costco catered the whole thing so there was food EVERYWHERE.

2. Mark will be 29 tomorrow.  I took him "Outback tonight!" because he loves steak, chain restaurants and I had a coupon.  Man, I'm an awesome wife.

3. The completely written thank you notes are sitting in a corner of our office waiting to be addressed, sealed and mailed.  Uh....next week?

4. Have you been on MySpace lately?  I went on tonight.  It's not that exciting since most people I know are either no longer on the site or haven't logged in for more than 30 days.  Rather than scope out other pages I looked at old photos from the MySpace era of 3-5 years ago--or the 3-5 gym nights per week era.  I don't think I'm fat but I was definitely thinner in the MySpace era....so I'm going back to that era, who's with me!?!  Surveys and slimmer stomachs await.