Baked Brown Rice (Tex Mex version)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Rest Time: 10 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Me and Cook's Illustrated

I took the idea of cooking Brown Rice in the oven and the Curried Tomatoes and Peas version that Cook's Illustrated had, but created a different version using different flavors. Red Gold has petite diced tomatoes with Chipotle (Fiesta Mexican would work too) and so I decided to combine that with some black beans to create a vegetarian meal.

1.5 cup brown rice
2 t. olive oil
2 1/3 c. water
1/2 t. salt
1 15 oz Petite Diced Tomatoes with Chipotle
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 oz shredded cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 375.

1. Spread rice in glass 8x8 baking dish (or slightly larger, especially, if the sides are not too high).

2. Bring water, tomatoes with juice, oil and salt to a boil in a covered saucepan. When it comes to a boil add to rice in baking dish and stir.

3. Cover pan with 2 layers of foil tightly. Bake for 60-70 minutes until rice is tender. Stir in black beans in the last 15 minutes.

4. Remove from oven which rice is tender. Sprinkle cheese, and fluff with fork. Cover with clean towel and let sit for 5-10 minutes to absorb some steam.

Chicken Divan Pasta

Total Time: 40 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Me - inspired by Cook's Country Modern Chicken Divan

I tried changing up the Modern Chicken Divan recipe from Cook's Country to make it a little more appealing to me. I had really liked the flavor of the sauce, and I love chicken and broccoli, so I wanted to find a way to make it really work for me. My goals were:

1) quicker. I don't care if I mess up another pot, if I can make something faster.
2) lighter (don't want to use a full cup of cream in a weeknight dish). However, this is still not a truly "light" dish
3) some sort of carbs included in the recipe, like pasta
4) using more reasonable ingredient amounts (I hate it when a recipe calls for strange amounts of chicken broth - like 2.5 cups of broth, meaning I had to open a 2nd can).


So here is my version:

Chicken Divan Pasta

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds broccoli , florets cut into bite-sized pieces
1 T. vegetable oil
1 small onion, minced
2 T. flour
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 c. heavy cream
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half, and sliced into bite size pieces, about 1/4" thick
1/2 c. dry vermouth (or sherry)
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
salt and ground black pepper
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 oz pasta (I like Gemilli or Bow-tie)

1. Bring large stockpot of water to boil while starting to prep ingredients

2. When water boils, add 1 T. salt and broccoli. Cook for 1-2 minutes until bright green and starting to get tender. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

3. Bring water to boil again and add pasta. Cook until just al dente and drain. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, heat oil in 12" pan (or a dutch oven, if you have 2nd large pan not being used for the pasta) over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add onion and cook for a minute or two until softened.

5. Add flour and stir for a minute.

6. Add broth and cream, scraping up bits from bottom of pan. Stir until sauce is not lumpy from flour, about a minute or two.

7. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add to sauce. Stir to break up pieces. Cook for a 3-4 minutes until chicken is cooked through (time will depend on size of your pieces.) When cooked, removed chicken from sauce with a slotted spoon, and place in a clean bowl.

8. Add vermouth and Worcestershire sauce to the sauce and simmer until slightly reduced, 2-3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan.

9. Whisk lemon juice and yolks in a small bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup of the sauce. Remove pan from heat, and add yolks mixture into the sauce, whisking immediately. Whisk in butter.

10. Add broccoli and chicken back to the sauce. (If you are using a 12" skillet or saute pan, you might want to combine everything in pot you cooked the broccoli and pasta in instead, for more room.) Stir carefully to combine everything and reheat briefly.

11. Optional - place in ovenproof dish, add a little more parmesan to the top and broil for a few minutes (put dish in middle of oven, not at the top.)

Zucchini and Chickpea Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (July 2005)

I have modified the recipe quite a bit, to make it lighter, and to use Zucchini instead of Eggplant. The original recipe called for Mint, and I use fresh Oregano.

Roasted Zucchini Salad

4-5 medium zucchini, 1/2" dice
2 1/2 T. olive oil, separated
salt
pepper
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. fresh oregano, minced
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Toss diced zucchini with 1 T. olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place on foil lined heavy pan. Roast
3. Roast zucchini for 30 minutes, tossing once or twice.
4. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 pepper in large bowl. Add chickpeas, zucchini and feta and toss to combine. Serve warm or cold.


Update: There is also a curry version of this salad with peas, which I tried. I don't like this one as much, so I will stick with the chickpea feta version of zucchini salad.