Cilantro-Lime Rice

My mother and I are both complete suckers for cilantro. For instance, when either of us makes pico de gallo, by the time we're done you can usually smell the cilantro without even opening the refrigerator door. So when we tried the lime and cilantro-infused rice at Kanak Attack last spring during our pre-wedding tasting, we were both totally hooked. Of course, in true fashion, I had to figure out how to make it at home. And guess what? It's so easy, I feel like I'm cheating even calling it a recipe.

You literally only need three things to make this epic rice...

That's it. Rice, lime, and cilantro. No fuss, no frills. Just the way I like it.

And it's soooo tasty! I used basmati rice because I like the light, fluffy texture I'm able to achieve with it, but you could easily substitute any other kind of white rice you'd like. But the lime and cilantro... they make this dish sing. This is one of those truly light and refreshing sides that I guarantee you'll find yourself making week after week. Eat it alongside enchiladas, or stuff it in a burrito with all the fixin's. Or eat it in a bowl, topped with your favorite slow-cooked black beans and a little Mexican crema. The possibilities are endless! Just trust me. This rice is too easy and too delicious... there's no excuse not to try it.

Cuban Black Beans & Rice

It seems these days that beans get kind of a bad rap. Most people don't like eating beans in their burritos, let alone by themselves. And maybe it's because we're all eating those crappy canned beans these days. They're really nothing compared to what I'm about to share with you. But I dare you to try it... announce that you're serving beans for dinner and you're likely to hear groaning. At least that's what happened to me. But that quickly stopped after he tried a bite of it.

...because holy smokes. Not even I never imagined such a simple dish could be so damn delicious.

Though it isn't exactly a quick recipe - what with the 8+ hours of soaking and the hour and a half of simmering - it is so easy. And it's so worth the wait. It's really quite amazing that so few ingredients could deliver such amazing flavor, but they do! Combined with fluffy garlic rice, these beans make a full meal that satisfies on so many levels. And if you're looking for a way to feed a crowd on a budget, look no further. The recipe as listed makes a lot of food... you could easily halve it and still have plenty to go around! But whatever you do, make these beans. You will totally be glad you did.

Roast Pork & Veggie Burritos

Since I've begun working night shift indefinitely, I've been looking for and cooking a lot of meals that require the same base ingredient, which can be made in large quantities and then created into two or more different recipes. For me this serves two purposes. One, it gives me something to do (read: keep me awake) the night before my first night shift in the stretch, so I can stay up late and sleep most of the day. Two, it makes meal planning during my stretch of night shifts a breeze, because my main ingredient is already done... all I have to do is quickly throw the other ingredients together and voila! Dinner is ready.

Lucky for me, the September edition of Everyday with Rachel Ray was all about these kinds of meals, and I felt fortunate to come across this very tasty - and quite easy - burrito recipe. It starts with a great base roast pork, which can be eaten on its own with the usual roast sides, like mashed potatoes and gravy, but it can also easily be tossed with a little bottled BBQ sauce and piled on a bun with tasty results. The roast can also be easily frozen in smaller quantities once cooked, which makes future meal planning easy too. The rice pilaf used in these burritos is also quick and simple to throw together, and it too can be frozen for future use. Between the pork and pilaf alone, the recipe possibilities seem quite endless!

Even if you only make the roast and the rice for these burritos you won't regret it... freeze the leftovers because you'll definitely want to make these again and again!

Coconut Rice

Dane and I have been eating these teriyaki chicken kebabs for a long time.

Next to Swiss Steak, Dane considers these kebabs his favorite meal, and requests them weekly as long as the weather permits grilling. But I've never posted the recipe before because it hardly seems blog-worthy... it's chunked chicken marinated in store-bought Lawry's teriyaki marinade, skewered onto bamboo with peppers, onion, and pineapple, and grilled. Don't get me wrong, they're amazingly delicious... I just have a hard time sharing something that comes out of a bottle, know what I mean?

But this post isn't about kebabs. It's about their awesome sidekick, coconut rice.

For a long time, I served plain brown rice with the kebabs. It was healthier... and it was bland. But after we tried the coconut rice at Ono Cafe alongside their teriyaki chicken, I knew I had to try it at home with these kebabs. How hard could it be? The truth is, it's one of the easiest things I've made all summer. And I pretty much nailed the flavor and texture the first time I tried it (not to brag or anything). Using jasmine rice keeps the texture nice and smooth and the addition of flaked coconut gives it the occasional slight nutty bite and a little extra coconut flavor. Ono uses untoasted coconut flakes to keep the color of the dish a nice virgin white, but I opted to toast mine a) for added coconut kick and b) to give my crappy point-and-click camera something to focus on (white rice is not easy to photograph!). But whether or not you choose to toast your coconut, just make sure to try this recipe. It's too easy and too delicious not to.

Mom's Basmati Rice

I can't believe I have never posted this recipe before. It's a staple in our household, and one of my favorite recipes, for sure. This recipe has a history for me. It's totally my mother's creation, and I cannot begin to count the number of times we ate it at home. In fact, I love it so much that I asked Mom to make it for me almost every time I came home during my first year of college. Eventually, I asked for the recipe so I could make it myself, but Mom didn't have much of an answer - "I don't know really... I just throw some stuff in there." The conversation went something like this...

Me: "Well you put onions and garlic and scallions in it right?"
Mom: "Yeah..."
Me: "Well how much?"
Mom: "I don't know... depends how much I'm making and how onion-y I want it."
Me: "Well what about seasonings? Is it basil and oregano or what?"
Mom: "You can use whatever you want really... I make it differently every time."
Me: "I don't imagine you measure anything..."
Mom: "Nope."
Me: "Well you're a lot of help."

So I watched her make it once and kind of picked up on the general process - saute veggie-like ingredients, toast seasonings and rice, add hot broth, cover and simmer. Easy, easy, easy. So I started playing with flavors and ingredients. I've made it with celery and carrots too, sometimes with sage and thyme instead of Italian, sometimes even with wild rice too. Mom was right - you can use whatever you want. It's a lot like risotto in the fact that once you get the process down the flavor possibilities are endless. But the recipe I present to you today is my favorite rendition. It's light, with delicate onion flavor and a texture that melts in your mouth like butter. And it goes with anything... we've eaten it with steak, grilled chicken, rosemary pork chops, and probably some other things that aren't coming to mind right now. It's definitely a recipe to keep in your back pocket for this summer!

Pork Fried Rice

For a long time, I was afraid to attempt to make fried rice because I thought it would be too difficult. I'm not sure why... somehow I was afraid that any rice I made simply wouldn't live up to the restaurant creations I had grown to love. But about a year ago, I was feeling adventurous and found this recipe from foodnetwork.com. It was an instant hit.

This is one of the few recipes I've made so many times that I actually have it memorized. It's definitely one of my go-to recipes these days.

It's funny to me now that I was once so afraid of this dish, because it's really very easy... especially if you let the grocery store do half the work for you! The key is to do all the prep work before you get cooking and have everything ready, because it really goes fast once you get going.

Normally, I'm all for starting with whole ingredients and doing the extra prep work myself. But this is one case where it's really worth it to shop for convenience. Yes, you could use unboiled rice, but I find that minute rice works just as well and takes a third of the time to prepare. Sure, you could buy the green beans, carrots, and peas all separately, but the bag of frozen mixed veggies provides everything for only the effort it takes to cut open the bag. And the ham? Not only do I find it more convenient to buy the pre-cubed package, but I find that it's actually cheaper! But if you splurge on only one thing, I strongly encourage you, friends, use sesame oil! Don't bother with any of your standard cooking oils... it just won't taste the same, trust me. Plus once you get a whiff of that warm, toasty sesame oil wafting through your kitchen, you won't ever want to use another oil again.

What's nice about this recipe, too, is that it goes quite far. With our busy schedules and limited food budget, Dane and I find that it's nice to make enough food for dinner that we can eat it again the next day for lunch, and this is one of the few recipes that not only tastes just as good reheated, it actually tastes better the longer it sits. This recipe will make at least 4 meal-sized servings if not more, so there's plenty for lunch the next day and maybe even the day after. Plus, it smells so good that people at work get jealous of what you're eating... and that's got to feel good, right? :)

So how to? Click to read on.