rice omelet

1 bowl microwave rice
1 can corn (or fresh asparagus or mushrooms would be nice)
2 tbsp butter
5 eggs
sliced cheddar cheese
salt
parsley

Heat up the veggies and butter in the pan. Add the hot microwaved rice bowl. Stir. Add five eggs. stir. Add salt. Cover with cheese slices. Add parsley. Wait for the cheese to melt.
Total preparation time: 5 minutes. Serves two or three people.
Growing up I would have called this quiche, but it's not reaaly much like quiche. It's just an omelet with rice in it. 

Donut Bread Pudding

Makes 6 really big servings or 12 reasonable sized servings. This is a very sweet and tasty dessert. It's basically like you mixed vanilla ice cream up with donuts and cooked apples.

Ingredients:
------------
One dozen glazed donuts (they don't have to be particularly good donuts. They can even be stale.)
3 cups heavy whipping cream (or you could use condensed milk from a couple of cans.)
5 eggs (you could get away with fewer)

3 tsp cinnamon (maybe other sweet spices as well?)

3 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 or 3 diced, skinned granny smith apples (or a few cups of raisins or blueberries, if you prefer.)
maybe some grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a greased 9 x 13inch pan, tear up the donuts into bite size pieces. You will have to wash your hands again at this point because they will have icing all over them.
In a large bowl, mix up all the rest of the ingredients. Pour the mixture over the top of the donuts. Maybe squash them down a bit so they sponge up some of the liquid. This isn't the prettiest dish. But it does make your house smell nice.
Cook uncovered for 40 minutes. It should still be kind of soft on top when you are done, not crisp. If it is black you have left it in for too long.

anytime American curry

This recipe takes ten minutes to prepare, and you don't have to have gone to the store any time recently.

2 microwave rice bowls (microwave 90 seconds each)
3 blocks of Japanese curry base (about 36 cubic centimeters total)
Here is a picture of what I mean by blocks:

2 cups water or milk
1 apple (or can of pineapple chunks)
1 stick celery (or can of corn)
1 can of chunk chicken breast
it looks like this:

spices (curry powder, coriander, cinnmon, marjoram)

Boil the water. Break up the curry block and drop it in the water. Cut the apple and celery into little chunks. Add the fruit, vegetables and meat to the boiling curry and stir. Let it sit long enough to get warm, but not long enough for the apples to break down. The curry should come out thick, not runny. Spice to taste.

You can add other things like potatoes or carrots but you would have to boil them for a few minutes before you added the curry or they would be too hard. Of course you can make rice in a pot or a rice cooker, but that would take a lot longer.
It will end up looking something like this:

serves 2 or 3 people

Blue Macaroni and Cheese

You make regular macaroni and cheese from a box, and then melt blue cheese over the top. It's very sharp. I got a block of blue cheese at Costco for about the price you usually pay for cheddar.
It's fun because it's at the same time really low class and high class food. It's like putting caviar in your instant ramen. Except I've never had caviar so I don't know if that would be any good. 

A modest proposal

For a Halloween-themed dessert:

Ingredients:
1 20 oz. bag of assorted Mars candy bars
1 10 oz. bag of M&Ms

Unwrap all the candy bars. Dump them unceremoniously into a heavily buttered 8-inch cake pan. Create the top crust by dumping all the M&Ms on top. Bake at 110 F for 30 minutes. Allow the dessert to rest at room temperature until solid. Serve with a garnish of Karo syrup (optional).

Kettle Corn Breakfast Cereal

Kettle corn is butter-popped popcorn with sugar and salt. You can get it in big bags at Costco. If you put it in milk and eat it quickly, it's like breakfast cereal with salt and butter. But you have to drop it in the milk and eat it within seconds before it melts.

Shrimp Biryani

I got this recipe from an arabic food blog.  It is sooo good. What's in the parenthesis is from me. When I made it, I didn't cook the rice as long because it doesn't take long to cook the kind I bought.  After layering the shrimp and rice, you just want to cook it until it's done.  

Cuisine: Arabic

Category: Arabian Gulf

Serves: 8 persons

Difficulty: Medium

Cost: Medium

Preparation time :     20 minutes

Cooking time :     1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice or 400 g

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium onion or 250 g, finely sliced (if you want crunchy fried onions, wring out the onions in a towel before frying)

2 medium onion or 250 g, finely chopped

500 g shrimp, peeled, raw, de-shelled & de-veined

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup fresh dill or 50 g, finely chopped

3 tablespoons curry powder

2 cinnamon sticks

5 whole cardamom pods

3 cubes MAGGI® Chicken Bouillon or 30 g (the bouillon cubes here are bigger so be generous)

½ cup water or 125 ml, hot

2 cups cilantro leaves or 100 g, roughly chopped

6 cups water or 1½ liters

2 tablespoons ghee (or oil)

1 tablespoon saffron, powder (didn't use this as I haven't found it yet and it's very expensive)

pinch of salt

pinch of ground pepper

Preparation

Wash and Soak rice in cold water and set aside for 30 min.

In a large pot, heat vegetable oil, fry sliced onions till golden brown, remove and set aside.

In the same pot on medium high heat fry chopped onions till golden, add shrimp and sauté till pink (about 4-5 minutes), add tomato paste, Garlic, Dill, Spices, Cinnamon sticks, Cardamom pods, MAGGI® Chicken Bouillon , and Water and bring to a simmer. Add chopped fresh coriander leaves and remove from pot and set aside.

In the same pot, bring to boil 1.5 liters of water, place rice and cook until rice is ¾ cooked (andante).

Drain rice in a colander and discard excess water.

Melt Ghee on the bottom of the same pot; add a layer of strained rice, followed by a layer of shrimp and onion mixture and a sprinkle of Saffron powder. Follow this step until all the rice and shrimp sauce is used.

Steam rice and shrimp on med-low heat until rice is fully cooked (about 20 minute).

Gently fluff cooked rice ensuring even distribution of rice and shrimp.

Serve on a large plate, and garnished with fried sliced onions.

Pesto Pistachio Pasta

The tastiest food based on wordplay!

One bowl cooked pasta
Three spoonfuls pesto sauce
two spoonfuls sour cream
one handful pistachios (not in shells)
microwave for one minute.

Raw asparagus

It's really good. It tastes just like sugar pea pods if you eat it straight from the garden.

Whole cranberry sauce

4 cups water
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp vanilla extract
4 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp almond extract
1 bag cranberries (12 cups)

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Some people like up to 4 cups sugar, but I like it more tart. Add other spices to create a "swich licour." You can leave out whatever spices you want, it's just to make the flavor more interesting. Add the berries to the boiling water. Pull out any that look freakish. Bring it to a boil again and cook it for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cranberries have their own thickening agent (pectin, I think) to turn it into jelly as it cools. Makes something like 8 cups of sauce, enough for a really big party. It also makes the house smell really nice when you're cooking it.

Chicken Gyros

I got this recipe here. Big E declared that the chicken "was the best chicken I've ever had!" and the last two times we've had this, that's almost all he's eaten.  

Ingredients:

Tzatziki sauce:
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken:
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon (2-3 Tablespoons)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

To assemble: Pita bread
Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Red onion, sliced thin

Instructions:
Shred the cucumber or chop in food processor. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet or with the broiler. Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into strips. Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and sliced onions. Serve immediately.

Greek Pita Pizzas

Pita is really cheap here (27 cents for 10).  So I've been looking for recipes that use them.  Here's one that we had tonight that I'll be making again. It got it and the picture from this website. 

2 Tbsp oil (more for brushing)

4, 8-inch whole wheat pitas

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp. fresh chopped oregano (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1/2 small red onion sliced thin

½ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped (or sliced black olives)

¾ cup grape tomatoes, halved (or other chopped)

½ cup hummus

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup crumbled feta

Tzatziki sauce (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 475˚F and brush both sides of the pita with a little olive oil. Arrange the pita on a baking sheet and bake 5 minutes or until light golden. (I found that they didn't turn very golden at all, and got extra crunchy, so next time I might cut this time down by a minute or two.)

2. While the pitas are cooking, combine the vinegar with 2 Tbsp of oil and oregano and bit of salt and pepper. Whisk to blend and add the onion, olives and tomatoes to the bowl and toss to coat with the dressing.

3. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the hummus over each pita and top with mozzarella. Layer each pita with a quarter of the vegetable mixture and top with the feta.

4. Bake until the cheese melts and the vegetables are soft, about 6-8 minutes. Top with tzatziki sauce if desired.

Slow-roasted Tomato, Cucumber, and Hummus Sandwich

Recipe and Image From: http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2011/07/slow-roasted-tomato-cucumber-and-hummus.html

Slow-roasted Tomato, Cucumber, and Hummus Sandwich

INGREDIENTS
whole wheat or multi-grain bread, toasted
hummus

carrot, grated

red onion, thinly sliced

sprouts

slow-roasted tomatoes (recipe below) or tomato, thinly sliced and seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
cucumber, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS
1. Spread hummus over two slices of bread. On one slice layer grated carrots, red onion, sprouts, tomatoes, and cucumber. Top with the second slice of bread and serve.

Slow-roasted Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS
cherry, grape, or small Roma tomatoes, halved
whole cloves of garlic, unpeeled
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh herbs (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 225 F. Arrange tomato halves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with just enough olive oil to make the tomatoes glisten. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper and herbs, if using.

2. Bake in preheated oven for about 3 hours (depending on the size of the tomatoes), until the tomatoes are shriveled and almost dry (with a little juice still left inside). Use right away or cool and store in the refrigerator covered in a little olive oil.

(Sow-roasted tomatoes adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Creamy Shrimp Rolls

Recipe and Image from http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/creamy-shrimp-rolls-00000000000684/index.html

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 10m| Total Time: 10m

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  mayonnaise
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1 1/2  pounds  cooked medium shrimp, cut in half crosswise
• 2  stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4  cup  sliced chives (optional)
• 4  hot dog buns
• 1  small head butter lettuce, torn into pieces
• 1  5-ounce bag potato chips

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
2. Fold in the shrimp, celery, and chives, if desired.
3. Line the buns with the lettuce and fill with the shrimp mixture. Serve with the potato chips.

By Sara Quessenberry and Kate Merker , August, 2008

Shrimp and Sausage with Polenta

Recipe from http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/shrimp-with-polenta-00100000076771/index.html

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 20m| Total Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 3  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1/2  pound  andouille sausage, sliced
• 1  pound  peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• 1  bell pepper, sliced
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4  tablespoons  unsalted butter
• 1  cup  instant polenta (just use cornmeal)
• 1/2  teaspoon  chopped fresh oregano

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shrimp, bell pepper, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until the shrimp are opaque, 3 to 4 minutes more. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and cook until melted.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Whisk in the polenta and cook, whisking, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Serve with the shrimp mixture and sprinkle with the oregano.

By Sue Li , March, 2012

Creamed Polenta with White Beans and Spinach

Recipe and Image from http://www.makeandtakes.com/creamed-polenta-with-white-beans-and-spinach

Creamed Polenta with White Beans and Spinach

adapted from delightful delicacies
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For polenta:
4 cups water, plus more if necessary (can use 2 cups milk for part of the water)
1 cup instant polenta* (just use corn meal)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. butter, or olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
2-4 Tbsp.  heavy cream

For white beans:
2 cups cooked (or canned) white beans, drained
1-2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 Tbsp. chopped black olives (about 8 large)
1 Tbsp. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds (optional)
1/4 tsp. each: dried rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and pepper
2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped (kale, chard, or collards)
Water

Heather's note: THIS NEEDS BACON! Crumble some on top and you'll be happy you did.

Instructions:

For polenta:
Bring the water (and any milk, if using) to a simmer in a 3 quart saucepan or pot. Add the salt and slowly whisk in the polenta. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until it has thickened and starts coming away from the side. (If you like a thinner, soupier polenta, add more water or extra milk.)

Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the butter, nutritional yeast or cheese, coconut or heavy cream, and taste. Add more salt if needed. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm until ready to serve.

For beans:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the onion. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, or until the onion starts to turn golden. Add the olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fennel seeds, and dried herbs. Continue cooking for a few minutes until onions are completely cooked and the flavors have melded. Add the beans and bring to a simmer. If the skillet is too dry, add a little water. Right before serving, remove the skillet from the heat and add the spinach. (You don’t want to overcook the spinach, just wilt it. If you’re using another heartier green, then cook for a few minutes until the greens are tender.)

To serve:
Spoon some of the polenta into a shallow bowl. Top with the beans and spinach. Serve hot.

Rice and mushroom casserole

Image and recipe from http://www.everyday-reading.com/2011/11/vegetarian-recipe-9-rice-and-mushroom.html

Rice and Mushroom Casserole

(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

Serves 6

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

1 TB olive oil

8 ounces mushrooms (brown or white) cleaned and roughly chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves minced garlic

1 bunch spinach or chard, roughly chopped (if using chard, separate the stems from the leaves and chop the stems like onions)

2 eggs

1 cup crumbled queso fresco (you could use another semi-soft cheese like feta or even fresh mozzarella or goat cheese)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon salt (if you're using feta, you may want to skip the salt entirely)

1/2 tsp pepper  

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese 

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Put both rices in a medium saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stir once, cover and reduce heat to low. Let cook about 45 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a baking dish (somewhere in the 9x9 range is a good size. I use an oval pan that's about 6 x 12).

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil. Add mushrooms and stir every few minutes until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are slightly brown. Add onions (and chard stems if using them) and cook for another 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for 1 more minute and remove pan from heat.Add spinach or chard leaves and cook 2-4 minutes until wilted. 

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, queso fresco, sour cream, salt (if you're using it) and pepper.

Add the cooked rice and the mushroom/onion mix and stir until well combined. Spread half of this mixture into prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese over the rice mixture and then pour the rest of the rice mixture on top of that. 

Sprinkle with remaining cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and finish it off with the Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes more.

Serve hot. 

Savory Mustard Chicken Thighs

Recipe and photo from here: http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/

preheat your oven to 450ºF

mix together:
1/2 cup of dijon mustard, 
1/4 cup of maple syrup, 
1 tablespoon of rice/rice wine vinegar. 

Salt and pepper 1.5 lbs chicken thighs

Then pour the mustard/syrup mix over the chicken in a foil-lined baking dish

Put the chicken thighs into the oven, and let them bake for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165ºF. Baste the tops of the chicken with more sauce half way through.

Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Plate the chicken, making sure to spoon some extra sauce over the top. Sprinkle over some fresh rosemary.

We served this with some seasoned brown rice and vegetables.

Pinto Beans and Rice

1 (1 lb) bag dried pinto bean
1/3 cup picante sauce
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon garlic , minced (kind in jar is okay)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 bay leaves
1 cup cooked white rice (we found that it needs about twice this much.  So I cook 1 cup of uncooked rice.  Brown rice also works)

Rinse beans in colander.  Put in a crock pot (or large pot).  Cover with water, plus about 2 inches over top of beans. Add all ingredients, except rice.

Cook on high in crock pot about 4 hours til tender. (Crockpots vary greatly on cooking times. It could take much longer in yours, so the first time allow longer to cook and then you will know how long cooking time will be in the future.).

(Add water if necessary) May also cook on low overnight.
Add rice and cook until rice is warm.

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients
1 cup black beans 
1 Tbsp olive oil 
2 garlic cloves, crushed 
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 
1 tsp ground cumin 
Salt/Pepper

1 cup brown rice 

Directions
Cook beans either by soaking overnight (which I never remember to do) or by the hot soak method.  

Cook rice.  When rice is cooked add all other ingredients and heat through.  

This was originally a slow cooker recipe, so you can put the beans in the slow cooker after soaking and add the other ingredients except the rice.  Cook on high for about 4 hours.  You'll probably need to add some water, but don't add too much, because you'll just be stirring in the cooked rice and you don't want it too soupy.  When beans are cooked, add cooked rice.