thanks to Charlotte for suggesting I include my learn to cook dude!

This is one of Ryan and my favorite, go-to, weeknight dinner recipes. Ryan loves Mexican flavors. I love rice and beans. It’s a great meal. But even so, I’ve been debating about posting this. I even made a pros and cons list. Here it is:

Cons –

• Creates a lot of dishes and that’s annoying
• Requires some finesse and timing. Lots of things are cooking at the same time, which can be stressful

Pros –

• Takes less than 45 minutes to make everything
• Tasty and filling
• It’s easy to make a lot, so it’s great for guests or if you want some to take for lunch
• There’s lots of options for making this even faster or even more homemade (more on that below)
• There’s lots of options for adding all the toppings and add-on foods that you like

So the pros outweigh the cons, which means you all get a nice recipe. Before we get started let me tell you about some of the options to amp up or amp down this recipe.

I use canned beans, frozen sofrito, and a taco seasoning packet. I prefer using these products because they still taste great and they decrease my prep time. Specifically, I liked Goya pink beans or any brand’s pinto beans. But of course you could use black beans, re-fried beans, or whatever kind of beans you like. If you don’t like canned beans, by all means use dried beans. People tell me they are much better, but I grew up often eating canned beans so I like them just fine.

You can also make your own sofrito. If you’re not familiar, it’s a tomato based seasoning blend. I prefer not to make it because it requires a lot of ingredients, some of which can be hard to find. If you are so inclined, a recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book Puerto Rico True Flavors. You can also do some Googling, and find a recipe you like. But the Goya frozen sofrito is great because it’s such a big tub and it keeps for a long time.

Finally, I buy taco seasoning packets. Again, it’s because taco seasoning is made up of a lot of ingredients and not all of which are already in my spice cabinet. However, when I’ve found myself without a seasoning packet, I’ve used this recipe.

Now, for the rice. I’m going to give you the recipe for making rice on the stove. I don’t have a rice cooker so I don’t know how that works, but go ahead and use it if you have it. If you really want to save yourself time, go ahead and use Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice – but I’ll be judging you a little bit. And I’ll be judging only because I think you should try stove making rice before you go to prepared rice. I’ve totally had Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice (sorry Mom), but the bag doesn’t make much and it’s not cost effective. I like making rice myself because it’s largely passive cooking, it makes a ton, and it’s cheap. Seriously a 2 pound bag of rice cost about $2 and will last a long time.

Just a few more notes and we’ll get to cooking. I never use tortillas when Ryan and I make taco salad. This is largely because I feel guilty about waste. I buy a bag of tortillas, we use about 6 and then they go stale and I feel bad about throwing them away. Usually Ryan and I make a taco salad heap and then use chips to scoop up the food. Feel free to use taco shells, tortillas, chips, or just a fork. Make it your own.

You’ll have three things going at once. I like rice on the back burner and beans and veggies/meat on the front two. This way, when you stir, you aren’t reaching over anything.

And the last thing about “make it your own,” is that this meal allows for you to put whatever you like on top of it. We usually add at least cheese and salsa, but there’s so many more options and I’ll list some below.

That’s enough background, let’s get to cooking. With this recipe you’ll be cooking 3 things. The directions will be all together, and I’m doing this because it should allow you get all 3 dishes finished at the same time. And that’s what you want because then you can serve everything hot.

Ingredients you don’t have to cook and can use as toppings:

salsa

chopped tomatoes

shredded cheese

sour cream

lettuce

guacamole

Ingredients (for the cooking-part):

1 cup long grain white rice (you can also use other types of rice if you prefer)

2 cups water

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion

1 can Goya pink beans

1/4 cup Goya frozen sofrito

1-2 bell peppers (any color you like)

1 tbsp and 1 tsp (or 4 tsp) taco seasoning

1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)

Directions:

1. Start with the rice. I recommend following the package instructions, but I’ll also give you my instructions. Use a back burner, this is important because you need 2 other burners and the rice will be largely left alone so it shouldn’t be in the front. Anyway, add 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water, and 1 tbsp of butter to a medium pot. Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, turn the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.  I recommend you set a timer for 20 minutes and use it to help you synchronize the rest of your cooking. Below is the rice mid-cook.

2. While you’re waiting for the rice. Chop the bell pepper and onion in strips.

3. When you have about 15 minutes left on your rice timer, heat a large pan (on a front burner) on medium. Once it gets hot enough, saute your onions and pepper strips until they are browned and soft. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

4. At about 12 minutes left on your rice timer, put the beans (and the liquid in the can) in a small pot. Add the sofrito. (Note: if you’re using frozen sofrito, microwave the tub for 30 seconds and then scrape out 1/4 cup. It’s not serious if you have more or less). Simmer the beans on medium for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Beans are done when they are tender and hot throughout.

5. Ok, once your peppers and onions are soft, remove them from the pan and set aside. You should have about 8-10 minutes left on your rice timer. Add the ground turkey to the hot pan. Stir in the taco seasoning. Cook until the meat isn’t pink. This takes about 5-7 minutes. Stir the onions and peppers back in. (Note: You don’t have to mix the onions and peppers in with the meat, but I like to because it ensures we eat our vegetables).

6. Put a paper towel on a plate. Pour the cooked ground turkey on the paper towel plate and let the grease drain.

7. Your timer should be going off! Check the rice! Take off the lid, use a fork and push aside the rice so you can see the bottom of the pan. Is there water? The rice isn’t done. Is it dry and does the rice look fluffy? Then it’s done! Fluff it up and serve. (Note: Technically you shouldn’t open the lid while you’re cooking rice but if you’re new to this, I suggest checking on the rice maybe 5-7 minutes before it’s supposed to be done. This will help you gauge if the rice is cooking too fast (the water is already gone) or if there is some water left then things are going well).

8. Turn off all your burners and you should be ready to serve! I like rice on the bottom, then beans with their juices, then meat, then toppings. But you should plate however you like!

Messy level – This is a three spoon recipe because of the amount of dishes this makes. You’re going to use 2 pots, 1 pan, a knife, and a cutting board. And if you put all your toppings in serving bowls, you’ve got yourself quite the mess. But, in terms of cooking, this doesn’t make much of a mess. The technique is pretty much heat, stir, serve so there’s no splatter or craziness. I think it’s worth the mess. And Ryan’s my resident dish washer and requests this meal, so the dishes can’t be that bad… right?

This past weekend, Ryan and I had dinner with our friend Shane and his girlfriend, Molly. Shane told me he had been binge-reading my blog. I was so touched, and I told him I’d give him a shout out in my next post. So here it is: Hi Shane!! Thank you for reading my blog!

Want a shout out of your own? Post a comment about something food related and the next shout out could be yours. Tell me about your favorite meal, favorite dish you’ve had on vacation, childhood favorite, a food you’re afraid of, or whatever you want. If I like the post, I’ll give you a shout out. 

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My lovely friend Charlotte, who is so supportive and helpful with my blog, suggested I post my first-ever salad recipe. When I read her email, I thought, “ugh, salad.” I seriously dislike making salads and I prefer what I can buy at a restaurant. I don’t have all the diverse and exotic ingredients they have. And I’m just incapable of coating my salads in dressing like restaurants do. I always have a dressing puddle at the bottom of my plate. But if the purpose of my blog is to push myself to expand my cooking horizons, then I should get over my aversion to salad-making and just make a darn salad!

Today’s recipe I call, “Lisa’s Mom’s Strawberry Salad.” Now Lisa, is one of my oldest and best friends, and I’ve known her for literally over twenty years. Her mom’s name is Ellen, and Ellen calls this recipe “Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad,” and we’ll go with that since it sounds more elegant. This recipe is one of the three or four staples (along with veggie pizza and 7-layer dip) that I associate with parties at Lisa’s house, and it’s become one of the dishes I look forward to. And I’ll admit it, I’m nostalgic. I like this recipe because it reminds me of my friends and all the great parties we went to at Lisa’s house when I was growing up.

But, the real reason this is special to me because it is the first recipe I ever asked someone for. Today I’m always asking people how they make something, what ingredients they used, and how they cooked it. But, I asked for this recipe when I was in high school and never cooked anything. Seriously, never. I do recall I made this once or twice at home, but somewhere in the 10+ years since high school I lost the recipe.

When Ellen sent me the recipe this time, my eyes bugged out a little when I saw mayonnaise in the dressing ingredients. Sixteen-year-old Mariel was unbothered by this because she didn’t know what ingredients were in anything, and she could eat whatever she wanted. But twenty-eight-year-old Mariel has a slower metabolism, and is afraid of mayonnaise. And I don’t really know why I’m afraid of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise, when made from scratch is largely oil and if a salad dressing called for lots of oil I wouldn’t bat an eye! So I decide I would make the dressing as Ellen instructed, and I’d also try to make my own oil based vinaigrette. And the winner was the mayo-based dressing! I felt like the oil overpowered the tangy raspberry sweetness I wanted in the dressing. Also, the mayo dressing wasn’t heavy at all. I liked the light sweetness that it added to the salad.

I had the perfect opportunity to make this salad the other day when Ryan was going out with friends to watch a soccer game. Solo-girls-night at home is about the only time a reddish-pink, vegetarian salad is going to be dinner in my house. When Ryan came home a few hours later he found me on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory with our baby-polar-bear-soft blanket pulled up to my nose.

Ryan: How was your salad?

Me: Great!

Ryan: You didn’t watch the game?

Me: No

Because solo-girls night means no sports on TV and a vegetarian dinner. Might sound terrible to you, but it sounds awesome to me.

Anyway, back to the recipe. At the core this salad can be made using just romaine, red onions, and strawberries. I decided to jazz it up a bit and I added goat cheese and crushed almonds. The sharp tang of raw onions, with the creamy cheese, the crunch of the almonds, and bright juiciness of the strawberries makes for a vibrant combination of flavors. I also think it makes the salad more filling. And tastier.

It was so tasty and filling, in fact, that I had this salad for breakfast the next day. For real, I ate salad for breakfast. I guess I don’t hate making salad anymore.

Ingredients

These amounts are if you’re making the salad for 4+ people

Dressing:

1/2  cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp poppy seeds

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp raspberry vinegar

Salad:

1 large head of Romaine lettuce (I used a bag of mixed greens)

1 quart strawberries

1 small red onion

1/3 cup almonds (or to taste)

goat cheese (to taste)

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise and sugar thoroughly. Add the poppy seeds. Mix. Add the milk. Mix. Add the raspberry vinegar. Mix. Set aside.

2. Wash the lettuce and roughly chop. Put in a large bowl.

3. Wash the strawberries. Cut into thin slices. Put them on top of the lettuce.

4. Slice the onion in thin strips. Put them on top of the lettuce.

5. You can crush the almonds in a food processor. Or you can put them in a plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin. The second way is fun, and you don’t dirty any dishes. Sprinkle crushed almonds on top of the lettuce.

6. Cut the goat cheese into small dime-sized blobs. Place them around on the salad.

7. Serve!

Messy level – 1 spoon! All you need for this is a knife, cutting board, two bowls, and a whisk to mix the dressing. So very easy.

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I think the website is hilarious. I feel like if my college friends and I had a cooking show, it would be like Thug Kitchen. Probably less cursing, but the same idea that you’re awesome, what you’re making is awesome, and not to take it all too seriously. Anyway, today’s recipe comes from him.

When I found this recipe I was excited because I thought it would be something both Ryan and I would like. I want to have more meatless dinners, but it’s got to be satisfying and delicious for both me and Ryan. This seemed perfect because chickpeas are filling, there’s vegetables in the falafel, and the buffalo sauce is really flavorful and delicious. Also, Ryan and I were recently in Charlottesville, VA and ate at One Meatball Place and I loved their special buffalo chicken meatball. It was so juicy and amazing and I was eager to try something similar again soon.

Suffice it to say, I was inspired and Ryan and I were going to have buffalo falafel for dinner! I really liked it and had the leftovers for lunch for the next two days. It was spicy, flavorful, and I’ll call it “healthy” since there’s cauliflower in it. And as a broad generalization, I think it’s a good balance of foods girls like and foods boys like. I recommend eating it on pita bread or over lettuce and drizzled with ranch dressing.

If you don’t like spicy, you could still make the falafel and pair it with your favorite sauce. This sauce is great though, and I’d use it on chicken wings or any other meal where you’d like to add a kick.

Ingredients: 

Falafel:

1 15oz can of chickpeas, drained

1/3 of pound cauliflower

1/4 cup diced onion

2 gloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp all-purpose seasoning

2 tbsp bread crumbs

Buffalo Sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp flour

1 cup cayenne based hot sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a baking sheet

2. Using a food processor, chop up the cauliflower until it’s in tiny pieces.

3. In a bowl, mash the chickpeas until fairly smooth. You can leave some chunks, but you want it to be smooth enough so you can form chickpea balls.

4. Add the cauliflower, garlic, onion, oil, seasoning, and bread crumbs to the chickpea paste. Mix.

5. Form the mix into balls. It will make a little more than a dozen.

6. Put the balls on a baking sheet. Cook for 12 minutes, flip, then cook for 12 more minutes. They should be lightly brown on the outside.

7. While the balls are baking, start on the sauce. In a saucepan, heat oil

8. Add flour to oil. Stir continuously until it is golden. This takes about 3-4 minutes. Don’t let it boil.

9. Add half the hot sauce and mix. It should thicken up.

10. Add the rest of the hot sauce, water, and vinegar. Mix until smooth. It will smell spicy!!

11. After the falafels are done baking, pour buffalo sauce on top of them and bake for another 5 minutes. It’s less messy if you gather the balls on your baking sheet, then pour the sauce on them.

12. Serve and eat!

Messy level: I give this two spoons. It’s pretty self contained and there’s nothing that really splatters. I think it’s important to really grease the baking sheet well. I had a hard time flipping the balls over and so it made clean up a little more challenging.

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