Now, like all family recipes, many of the directions I got from my mom and my aunt were a bit vague. Things like “a lot” and “until it looks right” can be really confusing and frustrating until you make it and it comes out yummy and “a lot” and “until it looks right” makes a lot of sense. I’ll do my best to be specific, but this recipe allows for wiggle room when it comes to seasoning so don’t worry!

Before getting started, let’s talk ingredients. I use mostly Goya products. You can use whatever you want, but Goya is easy to find in grocery stores and always hits the spot. First, let’s talk pigeon beans, or gandules. I have only had pigeon beans in this dish so I have no idea how else to use them, and I really have no idea what they taste like solo, but they are great in this dish.

Second, is sofrito. I like the Goya frozen version. You can make your own fresh version. The recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book True Flavors. You can also buy the sauce-like Goya version, but the frozen container is the  largest and is less tomato-y. To use it, I just microwave the container for 20 seconds and then scrape off the portion I need.

Finally, let’s talk tomato paste. You can use regular tomato paste, but I’ve used whatever tomato based sauce I’ve had in the fridge. Some sometimes I’ve used paste, sometimes plain pasta sauce, and once the tomato juice from a can of whole tomatoes.

I think that’s the basics, so we should be good to get started!

Ingredients:

1 cup medium grain rice

1 can pigeon beans (drain the beans but hold on to the liquid)

2 cups of liquid (You can use all water, but it will be most flavorful if you measure the bean liquid and then use chicken broth or water to make the difference up to 2 cups) You might also need more than 2 cups of liquid, and I’ll explain why in the directions.

olive oil

1 small onion diced

2 tbsp garlic minced (can use more or less depending on taste)

3-4 tbsp sofrito

3 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp cilantro

*People also add green olives, cubanelle peppers, and diced ham. I don’t because Ryan doesn’t like olives and I don’t like ham, but if you choose to use these ingredients add them the step before you put in the pigeon beans.

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat 1-2 tbsp of oil. I like to have the setting at medium-high.

2. Cook the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes, or until the onion in translucent.

3. Stir in the sofrito, cilantro, and tomato paste. Now here is where my mom said you can use “a lot” of sofrito. She said there was no way you could use too much, so don’t feel like you have to stick to just 3-4 tbsps of sofrito. I know I’ve used enough sofrito when everything that turned the color of sofrito and the onions and garlic now look they are cooking in a thin layer of liquid.

4. Stir in the drained pigeon beans.

5. Pour in the liquid. If you can see the pigeon beans clearly through the liquid, add a little more until you can’t see the ingredients at the bottom of the pot. Usually I add about another 1/4 -1/2 cup.  Bring it to a boil. Season with salt if you’d like.

6. Once the liquid has boiled add the rice.

7. Cook until the liquid evaporates and the surface of the rice is visible with some bubbling between the grains of rice. This usually takes 9-10 minutes.

8. Lower the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for about 20 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is fully cooked. Some people like to overcook it a little at the bottom so those grains are crunchy – I usually have people fighting for those portions.

Messy Level – Low. It’s really a one pot dish so there’s not much to clean afterward. Also, everything cooks at a nice boil or simmer so there isn’t an occasion for thing to pop out of the pot.  Any mess I make comes in through spilling sofrito, chicken broth, and tomato sauce as I balance out how much I want to put in. But who doesn’t spill while cooking? 

The post Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Beans) appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

While I was cooking, what made me happy was Ryan got home and said “it smelled good in the hall and I was hoping it was my house.” Awesome! I was winning before he even tasted it. The only compliment better than that is that we both liked it after we ate

Many of the recipes I try out and post on the blog I’ve gotten from a cookbook, but this is a Mariel original! It was inspired by some Google searching, a little bit by Eating with the Seasons which is a book from my farm share with Potomac Vegetable Farms, and by Ryan’s love for tex-mex food. So I got ideas from here and there, but overall it’s all mine. It might seem silly, but I feel like I’m becoming a “real” cook when I’m putting meals together based on my own ideas. Hope you enjoy the recipe! It’s a great new take on taco night.

Ingredients

3-4 red bell peppers (depending on size, I used 3 and had leftover meat)

1 lb ground turkey (could also use beef)

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 can of corn (or about 2 ears fresh)

optional: 1/4 cup of corn salsa from Trader Joe’s. It’s a little sweet and spicy and I love it!

1/2 packet of taco seasoning

1/4 cup of tomato sauce (I like a chunky sauce so tomatoes are in the mix)

1 cup of chicken broth

shredded cheddar cheese (to your taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400°

2. Cut the bell peppers in half. Clean out all the seeds and pith.

3. In a skillet on medium-high, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, saute the onion and garlic (about 2-4 minutes).

4. Add the turkey meat. Add the taco seasoning. Add the corn. Cook until mostly cooked through.

5. As you’re cooking the meat, add the tomato sauce if you sense the meat getting dry.

6. Add all of the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the meat.

7. Simmer the meat mixture for 3-5 minutes.

8. Optional: If you like the peppers extra cooked, wrap them in aluminum foil and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes before you stuff them.

9. Stuff the meat mixture into the pepper half. Put the stuffed peppers into a casserole or rimmed backing dish

10. Sprinkle the top with cheese.

11. Pour the remaining chicken broth in the bottom of your dish

12. Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 20-25. It’s read when everything is hot, pepper is softened, and cheese is melted.

Messy Level: Low! This is basically a 2-dish cooking endeavor. I basically used a knife, cutting board, skillet, and casserole dish so there was very little that needed cleaning up afterward. The biggest mess is trying to neatly get the cooked stuffed peppers out of the dish once they are done. Not only a good meal, but Ryan didn’t have to go crazy doing the dishes afterward.

The post Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

For some reason I have an aversion to posting regular recipes. You know, the ones that use the ingredients already in my fridge. For some reason I feel recipes should be “blog-worthy” and impressive. But really, we all need some delicious and easy  every day recipes like this teriyaki turkey burger.  It’s a great weekday dinner recipe and brings a little summer into the kitchen. 

Now usually when I make recipes like this, burgers or meatballs or meatloaf, I just eyeball the seasoning. I sprinkle the spices I like. I keep going until I can  see little granules of spice. For this recipe I measured out teaspoons of spice, but I still recommend the old eyeball test.

The burger is good as is, but you can kick it up a notch with a pineapple ring. Heat up a grill pan (or a skillet) and cook the pineapple until you have some brown lines. Top the burger and be delighted.

Messy level: Two spoons. Yes, it’s basically dumping ingredients into the bowl, but you have to get your hands mucked up in the meat, which is why it’s a two spoon recipe.

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground turkey
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¾ cup of bread crumbs, divided
• 1 egg
• ½ cup of teriyaki sauce (I used Trader Joe's Island Soyaki), plus some extra sauce for finishing
• 5 slices of pineapple (I used canned, but by all means uses fresh)
• 5 buns

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, ¼ cup of breadcrumbs. Add up to ¼ cup more of bread crumbs if the mixture is too wet and won't hold together. Use your hands to mix it all together.
2. Add the egg and teriyaki sauce.
3. Using your hands mix and mash and squish is all together. If the mixture feels too sticky, as in you can't really make a patty or it's all stuck to your hands, then add the remainder of the bread crumbs.
4. Once everything is all mixed together, make patties! Mine were about ¾ of an inch thick.
5. Heat a skillet on medium-high (or grill, or George Forman grill) and cook the burgers. Instead of using oil we cooked it in more teriyaki sauce to give the burgers more flavor - Do what you like.The burgers should take about 4-6 minutes per side.
6. Optional: if you have a grill pan (or in your skillet, but you won't have lines) take the slices of pineapple and heat them. This shouldn't take long at all, it should be a quick sizzle, just enough to warm the pineapples and create those beautiful dark grill lines.
7. Put the burgers and pineapples on the bun and then put a dollop of teriyaki in the hole of the pineapple. EAT!
8. bit messier.

3.5.3226

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