Wild Rice and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Posted on January 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

I don’t know about you but I had way too much to eat this holiday season and have gained a few pounds in the process of it all. I wanted to cook something healthy today so I looked in the fridge and the only vegetables in there were peppers. Since I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store I decided to make healthy stuffed peppers. I filled them with quinoa and wild rice instead of beef and white rice.  I saw quinoa at the grocery store before, but never really knew what it really was. I recently started reading the ”Healthy Latin Cookbook”  and saw quinoa on the “glossary of ingredients”. It’s a grain that was used by the Incas that has more protein than rice, so I went out and bought it with the intention of trying to make something with it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It’s a little bit like nutty rice. The peppers turned out really well, so I thought I should share the recipe.

Recipe:

  • 5 large Peppers
  • 1 chopped Onion
  • 3 cloves of chopped Garlic
  • 1 cup of Rice Blend ( I use Rice Select Royal Blend)
  • 1 cup of Quinoa
  • handful of Pine Nuts
  • 3 cups of Water
  • all purpose seasoning
  • dried Italian herb mix
  • Salt to taste
  • Black Pepper to taste
  • 5 large Peppers
  • hot Chicken Broth
  • Cheese to sprinkle the peppers with

Sauté the onions on medium until they are soft. Add the garlic and pine nuts and sauté for a minute or so. Add the rice and quinoa and cook for an additional minute stirring the rice so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom.  Add water, dried herbs, salt, pepper and the all purpose seasoning. Turn the heat on high until the water boils and then turn down the heat to low and cover the pot. The filling is done when all the water is absorbed. The rice and quinoa should still be a little crispy because they will finish cooking in the oven.

In the mean time preheat the oven to 400F and slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. Cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up.

Take an oven proof dish and place the stuffed peppers in it. Pour the hot chicken broth in the bottom of the baking dish; you want to cover about an 1/2″ – 1″ of the peppers.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 min. 5 min before your timer goes off sprinkle cheese on top of the peppers and remove the foil. The cheese should get nice a bubbly before taken out of the oven.



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Posted in Grains, Side Dishes, Vegeterian

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Chili without tomatoes (Bosnian Pasulj)

Posted on December 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

I used to hate chili when I was little and I would come up with every excuse in the book as to why I couldn’t eat it. Every time my mom made it I would tell her that it gives me an itchy throat and every time she made me eat it anyways. I guess it’s true that your taste buds change over time because now I crave it when it gets cold outside.

In Bosnia we don’t use tomatoes in chili and most people use roux to thicken the sauce instead of tomato paste. Personally I think roux makes the chili quite heavy, but I do like my chili thicker. Years ago my mom came up with a great solution to the problem: OATS. It works great! The chili taste earthier but is still light. We also don’t put ground meat in our chili. My mom would throw in any meat she had, but my favorite was always ribs. There is something about ribs and beans cooked together in the pressure cooker that makes the chili taste fantastic.

Recipe:

  • 1lb bag of Red  KidneyBeans  and 1lb bag of Black Beans either soaked overnight or quick soaked per the package instructions ( I usually do the quick soak and it works just as well) (traditionally you wouldn’t use black beans, but I really like them)
  • 1 rack of Ribs (or however many can fit into your pressure cooker)
  • 1 chopped Onion 
  • 10 cut up Baby Carrots or 2 big Carrots
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  •  2 cups of rolled Oats
  • 2 tbls Paprika (I like to do half Smoked Paprika and half Spanish Paprika)
  •  Water 
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 tbls All purpose seasoning
  • Olive Oil
  • Scallions to put on top of chili (if you love onions this is a must because it gives it a nice onion flavor without overpowering your chili) 
     
    Add olive oil and onions in the pressure cooker. Sauté on medium until the onions are clear and add the garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients. Make sure your water covers the ribs. Put the stove on high until your cooker whistles, then turn it back to medium and cook for another 20 min or so. The time really depends on the size of your pressure cooker, mine is 5qts. Once it’s done remove from heat and let it cool off. Once you are able to open the cooker, taste the chili to see if you need to add any seasoning.  Place in a bowl and sprinkle with scallions. Enjoy!

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Posted in European, Main Dishes, Pressure Cooker, Soups & Stews

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Caesar Salad with Crunchy Croutons

Posted on November 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

I was laying on the coach, sick watching the cooking channel one day and I saw one super simple recipe for Caesar salad. I’ve never made my own Caesar dressing before so I decided to give a shot. I thought I liked Caesar dressing before, but not until I made this one. This dressing  tastes fresh and light; much better than any store-bought one from a bottle. And the croutons add that extra  flavor and crunch to the salad. Trust me it’s a party hit. I’ve made this salad a few times for family and friends since and everyone always loves it. I can’t take credit for the recipe, I saw it on Food 911 (Tyler Florence’s show).

Recipe:

Croutons:

  • 1/2 loaf crusty Italian bread  ( I used sour dough once and I liked it better)
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (I usually put more of a variety of dried herbs, like marjoram, savory, rosemary and thyme)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Take a bowl and tear the bread into it. Add the dried herbs, salt, pepper, grated cheese and olive oil. Toss it all together and place on a cooking sheet. Bake for about 15 min or until golden brown.

Dressing:

  • 4 anchovy fillets
  • 1 clove garlic, smashed (I love garlic so I use about 4 cloves)
  • 2 lemons, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt

Put the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, and water into a blender and process until the mixture is smooth. Add the olive oil, cheese, salt and pepper and blend again. I usually taste it and add more black pepper if needed. Be careful with the salt because the anchovies are pretty salty as is.

Chop up your romaine lettuce.  Add the dressing and croutons right before you serve the salad so that the croutons don’t become soggy. Grate some Parmesan on top for garnish. Enjoy! :)

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Posted in Salad

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BBQ Spare Ribs

Posted on September 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

What kind of a summer would it be if we didn’t bar-b-que some ribs?  Ribs are easy to make if you use a little tool called the pressure cooker. It gets the meat very soft and sweet that it just falls right off the bone.  Pork can smell really bad when cooked so my remedy is to add garlic, onion and seasoning into the water in which you cook them.  Not only does it give the ribs some flavor, but it makes your house smell good. Our dogs go nuts when I boil ribs, I’m sure it’s not because of the garlic though. :)

Recipe:

  • 2 racks of spare ribs
  • 1 bulb of chopped garlic
  • 1 chopped onion
  • all purpose seasoning
  • your favorite BBQ sauce

First cut the ribs to appropriate serving size.  I do 3 ribs at a time. It seems to be a good portion size for everyone. Then, fill your pressure cooker half way with water, add chopped garlic, chopped onions and all purpose seasoning. Add the ribs and make sure that water covers them and close the lid. Turn your stove on high. Once the whistle goes off turn your heat down to medium high and cook for another 30 min or so. Take the ribs off the stove and put the pressure cooker under cold water for a few minutes. The cold water releases the pressure inside so that you can open the lid. Take out the ribs and place them in a dish and cover it with your favorite BBQ Sauce. Place the ribs on the grill. While grilling the ribs keep brushing the BBQ sauce on the ribs to keep them nice a juicy. I guarantee you everyone is going to love these ribs.

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Posted in Main Dishes

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Pizza Pretzels

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

I made so much pizza dough last time I was making pizza that I had some left over to make pizza pretzels. This is a super quick and easy snack. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and rolled out the dough into fun shapes. I brushed olive oil on the pretzels and baked them for about 10 min. Then you just sprinkle salt and wait for them not to be scolding hot. :)   You can also add sesame seeds or carraway seeds.

I personally like to eat them with creamy goat cheese.

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Posted in Snacks

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Asian Bok Choy, Mushroom and Rice Noodle Soup

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Leave a comment


I recently went to a Chinese market to stock up on some Asian ingredients. After I came back, I wanted to cook with them so I decided on making a spicy soup. I only made enough for 2 bowls (which is what the recipe below is for) because I wasn’t really sure what I was making. My favorite Asian soups are the once where the broth itself just tastes so delicious that it doesn’t matter what else is in it. I kept putting ingredients in and after I liked the flavor, I decided the broth was done. Then I just added some vegetables, noodles and an egg to finish it off.  I served the soup for dinner and after we were done eating Mark got up and walked over to the stove to get more. He was really disappointed when he discovered that the pot was empty. He started to huff and puff that I had to make the soup again and that time I wrote the recipe down. Since then I have made the soup again tonight and decided to serve it with some spring rolls.  It’s a great soup when you are not that hungry or are feeling sick.

Recipe:

For the broth:

  • 4 cups of water
  • 2 tbs  soy sauce
  • 1 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp chili garlic sauce
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 1 tbs fish sauce
  • all purpose seasoning
  • salt
  • black pepper

The rest:

  • 1 egg
  • 1 bok choy
  • handful of shiitake mushrooms
  • scallions
  • clear rice noodles

Make the broth and let it come to a boil. Add the rice noodles and let it cook for about 2 min. Add the mushrooms, bok choy and scallions. Cover the pot and cook for another 2-3 min. Whisk the egg and add it slowly to the soup while stirring it. Cook until the noodles look done.  When you cook the broth make sure you taste it and add salt, seasoning, soy sauce etc. per your liking. Don’t be afraid to use different vegetables in your soup or maybe some shrimp. Enjoy!

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Posted in Asian Food, Soups & Stews

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Pan fried Pizza

Posted on September 1, 2010 | Leave a comment


One day I had some left over pizza dough, but was too lazy to make grilled pizza so I tried to pan fry it instead. I’ve seen it once on TV, but was too scared to try it myself.  I love crispy pizza so I have never tried to make it soft and chewy before. I decided to give it a shot and ended up really liking it.  Now I make extra dough and sauce for lazy dinner days where I can just take out the dough and pan fry a pizza. It’s a perfect quick dinner when you crave some comfort food.

Recipe:

One dough ball will make 4 little pizzas.

First split up your dough into 4 smaller balls. Roll it out.

At the same time put a frying pan on the stove and let the oil heat up. You don’t want the heat to be too hot, because it will burn the dough. A good test is flicking some water in the pan to see how hot it is. If the water starts spraying all over the place then it means it’s too hot. If the water slowly sprays out the pan than it’s perfect.

Once the oil is hot enough place the dough in the pan. When it’s start puffing up and the bottom is getting golden brown it’s perfect to turn over. About a minute or two per side.

Take the dough out and place it on a paper towel to soak up the oil. Fry up and the rest of the dough and turn your oven on to broil.

Put some pizza sauce and your favorite toppings on the pizza and broil it until the cheese melts. Enjoy!

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Posted in Main Dishes

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