One of my, many, passions, but one that is worthy to be a first class citizen on this site. Food. I do not claim to be a good cook, but quite possibly a competent one. I dabble here and I dabble there in a variety of recipes. Whether it is from sautéeing a dish or baking a bread or pizza. I often try out recipes, rarely however, do I follow it to a T. Being a home cook, to me, is an art form rather a science. I am not always too precise on the measurements, I might add a dash of this and a dash of that or sneak in some added nutrition there.
My goal is to prepare a decent meal at least once a week (often on the weekends), and I would like to share with you what I decide to tackle. I hope you do not mind vegetarian meals, because that is what I predominately cook!
Please check back, often!
Click here for a list of the recipes if you do not wish to scroll through all of them!
Jun 24, 2018 • food
Ingredients
- 1 tomato (diced)
- 2 slices of onion (thinly chopped)
- shake or two of cayenne pepper powder
- few shakes dried crushed parsley
- liberal use of crushed peppercorn
- salt to taste
- splash of lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients together and stir.
- tada!
Closing
Another one of those quick and nifty additions when you're looking for some zip to a meal. I do not usually have hot peppers on hand so adding a cayenne pepper makes up for it. Occasionally, I will add some bell pepper.
Feel free to use this for chips or a condiment with tacos or a burrito!
Jun 3, 2018 • food
Ingredients
- tablespoon olive oil
- 2 slices of onion
- 2 carrots (cut into thin wedges)
- liberal use of crushed pepper-corn
- 1-2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
- Heat frypan on medium high, when warm sauté onion for about one minute.
- Add carrots and pepper. Continue sautéing for an additional two minutes.
- Add honey, continue sautéing and shake/stir until carrots are tender, not soft (roughly 15 minutes).
- Serve!
Closing
I was cooking an assortment of sides today, and this one turned out while the other one was less aesthetically pleasing (but it still tasted good).
I like this recipe, it is short and it was well received during dinner!
Enjoy this side!
May 28, 2018 • food
Ingredients
- 4 Red potatoes (thickly sliced and quartered)
- 1 carrot (thickly chopped)
- 1/2 onion (thickly chopped)
- 1 bell pepper (thickly chopped)
- 6 kabob sticks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- few shakes of garlic powder
- few shakes of dry parsley
- liberal use of ground peppercorn
Instructions
- Interchange the vegetables on each kabob.
- In a small bowl mix the olive oil, garlic powder, parsley, and pepper.
- Prepare the grill, I used charcoal.
- When coals are ready, spread the kabobs and cover.
- Return after 5 minutes and rotate and flip with tongs. Drizzle the olive oil across all kabobs, and cover again.
- Continue returning 5-7 minutes to rotate and flip. Do this for about 30-40 minutes in total, until vegetables are tender.
Closing
I had a grill, and being that I generally cook vegetables I had to think of something to do with it! Man-o-man, am I glad I did this. It was a hit, I never cooked kabobs before, nor have I looked up any recipes for it, so I just winged this one. I will be coming back to it, it was just fantastic.
I will likely add more potatoes, those were a hit, and I will try to add some fruit in the mix and try different vegetable as well.
Give this a go, I am sure you will want more!
May 28, 2018 • food
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup pearl couscous (uncooked)
- 1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 15oz can of kidney beans (rinsed)
- 10 leaves fresh basil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 onion (finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 tomatoes (diced)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- liberal use of ground pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the couscous and quinoa to your packages' specifications.
- While couscous and quinoa are cooking, boil another pot of water for the blanching of the basil leaves. When water is boiling add the leaves for about 10 seconds, pour into a colander. Rinse with cold water (while in the colander). Finely chop the basil leaves.
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- In a small pot, on medium, cook pine nuts for about 2 minutes, stir occasionally. Let cool.
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- -Optional- If you do not wish to eat raw onion and garlic (they leave a bit of a bite), sauté in olive oil for about 2 minutes on medium high. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine and stir the cooled couscous and quinoa, kidney beans, olive oil, cooled pine nuts, onion, garlic, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.
- Serve or place in fridge till needed!
Inspiration
I loosely followed this recipe. I was just looking for a good summer or Memorial Day Weekend meals, and came across it. Needless to say, I did not use all of the same ingredients, and I did use a food processor.
Closing
I really, really, like this one. It tastes even better if you let it sit in the fridge over night! If you are looking for a good summer meal or side this is a good goto that you would like to bring with you to a picnic!
The original recipe did not use quinoa or beans (funny enough, I did not realize I pulled out kidney until I opened the can, I was intending black beans instead!!), but by doing so you get some really good textures (the couscous already had that amazing texture!) and once again, you called it, you get yourself some good protein!
When I made this recipe, I did not cook the onion or garlic and so it had a rather bit of a bite to it. I think the next time I will sauté them before adding them to the salad and see how it goes.
Have a cooled off meal!
May 28, 2018 • food
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the Salad and Kabobs.
- Serve it up!
Closing
These two were just really good, and I had prepared them together for the meal, originally. So I recorded them both and I just had to share them with all their glory!
Keep cool in this not-so-cool Spring!
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