Jamaican Rice and "Peas"

There are no peas in this recipe. Apparently, in Jamaica, all kinds of beans are also called peas. And when you win "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with that little piece of trivia, I hope you'll remember where you learned it.

Anyhow, this has to be one of the easiest recipes in the history of the world. The flavor is mild, and you hardly taste the coconut, but the little geek and baby geek liked it, so I'm sure I'll make it again.

You need:
1 can of dark red kidney beans (or whatever kind you want to use)
1 can of coconut milk (I used light)
water to make 4 cups of liquid
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp oil
1 Scotch Bonnet pepper (whole, do NOT chop up)

Pour liquid from beans into a measuring cup. Add coconut milk and water to make 4 cups of liquid total. Pour into large pot.

Add the onion, garlic, thyme, and oil, and bring to a boil. Add the rice, stir, and lower heat to medium-low. Add Scotch Bonnet pepper to the top of the mixture, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

And that is all. :)

Now that I think of it, you could make the filling for the beef patties, toss it in with the rice, and this would be a complete meal.

I think I may have enjoyed that filling a little TOO much. . .
2 cups rice

Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Basil

The other night we had a prepackaged (gasp) side of seasoned rice with dinner, and the baby geek gobbled it up. As a result of that (and the fact that I bought a 3-pack of fresh Mozzarella from Costco), I made this for dinner last night.

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp EVOO
2 cups chopped leek (2-3 medium leeks)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice (I didn't have enough so added some regular long-grain rice and it was fine, but Arborio is best)
1/3 cup dry white wine (in the future, I might double this and cut down the chicken stock to compensate)
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black papper
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/4 cup chpped fresh basil
5 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

1. Place vinegar in small, heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until slightly syrupy and reduced to 1 Tbsp (about 4 min). Set aside.

2. The original recipe has you bring the broth to a simmer in a pan and then keep it warm so that it's warm when you add it to the rice. Or you could do this in a microwave, which is what I intended to do, except that I forgot and just added it cold. Nothing bad happened as a result. If your broth was cold (not room temperature), you probably want to warm it up a bit before using it.

3. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add leek; saute 3 minutes or until tender.
Add rice, cook 2 min, stirring constantly.
Stir in wine and cook 1 minute or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.
Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to mdium. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).
Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes, basil, and cheese.

Place in individual serving bowls and drizzle with 1/2 tsp balsamic syrup. (Little geeks don't always like the syrup, but big geeks do!)

This is a perfect rainy day lunch or dinner! It was not rainy when we ate it, but it was still good, and the baby geek LOVED it.

Lemon Risotto

As I've mentioned before, one of the Big Geek's favorite flavors is lemon. Because of that, I try to find recipes that use lemon to test out on him. I figure that at least he'll like SOMETHING about it.

This recipe came from Real Simple, and for the most part, it is. However, I should have read the entire thing before beginning, because I thought I'd be able to pour in the broth and walk away, which was NOT the case.

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup (4 oz) grated Parmesan (I used Asiago because that's what I had, and it worked, too.)
Zest of 1 lemon, grated (I used zest of 1/2 lemon) as garnish
Chopped flat-leave parsley as garnish

Melt 2 Tbsp of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat (at this point, life interfered with cooking, and my butter got browned, but it still worked). Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 min.

Reduce heat (just realized I missed that part of the instructions), add wine, and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed.

Add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring occasionally and waiting until it's absorbed before adding more. This should take about 30 minutes total (entire recipe should take 45 minutes total). The rice should be tender but slightly firm.

Remove from heat. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and the remaining butter and stir until butter melts.

Spoon into individual bowls and sprinkle with lemon zest and parsley. Or be lazy like me and stir the zest and parsley into the pot and serve.

I thought this was good, and the Big Geek ate it. The Little Geek, who I thought would love it, just played with it, but the Baby Geek (who now gets some table food) really enjoyed it.

I will make this again when I know I have 45 minutes to devote to it.