2011 July

almost gallo pinto

07/31/2011 by Annalise · Leave a Comment

Ok, so let me just start off by saying I know this is not real traditional Costa Rican gallo pinto.

Gallo pinto is literally “painted chicken” even though there is usually no chicken in this dish - a simple mixture of rice and black beans that may as well be the country’s national dish!

This is a very close second for flavor, and I’m pretty sure that it will take you back to Costa Rica in your heart… at least it did for me (I lived in San Jose for a few months many years ago!) and for Navy (his grandparents live there and he just got back from a visit!)!

This recipe was born out of desperation and necessity. My beautiful, sweet, allergic-to-dairy niece is here spending the weekend with us. And since we pretty much live on dairy in this family and I didn’t plan ahead, I was stumped for a bit.

So, I started scouring the pantry to see what was hiding in there (since I knew there was no way I was going to be able to get the kids out of the pool on this beautiful day to go with me to the store!).

I saw all of my bottles of Salsa Lizano in my cupboard (a traditional Costa Rican sauce that is the main flavor of Gallo Pinto - and only available online or in latin markets!) and immediately had a craving.

Salso Lizano is a wonderful veggie-rich sauce that is hard to describe. If you can’t get your hands on any, you can substitute worcestershire sauce. It won’t be the same, but that’s about as close as you’ll get!

I couldn’t find any black beans in my pantry, but had some garbanzos… so those would have to do. I also didn’t have any red bell peppers, but I didn’t miss them in the final dish, other than for the pop of color!

Other than that, dinner came together quickly and tasted even better than I’d hoped!

I added a can of chicken because this was our whole meal and I wanted a bit more protein in there. You could easily use a cooked chicken breast instead, or leave it out and serve this with fried or scrambled eggs!

(Gallo Pinto is often served for breakfast in Costa Rica… using last night’s leftover rice and beans!)

Almost Gallo Pinto Recipe

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 (10.5 oz) can chicken or 1 or 2 cooked chicken breasts, diced

1 (15.5 oz) can beans (black, garbanzo, whatever…), drained

3 cups cooked rice, cooled

salt & pepper

1/3 cup Salsa Lizano (or worcestershire sauce if necessary)

1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro (or freeze-dried!)

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Stir in the onions and cook until translucent. Stir in the chicken and beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through.

Dump in the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Stir in the Salsa Lizano until well mixed, tasting and adding more if desired.

Season with salt & pepper, to taste, and toss with cilantro just before serving.

Next time I have all the ingredients, I will post the more traditional Gallo Pinto recipe for you all!

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - dinner, recipes - kids ·

Norway on my heart… & a recipe

07/29/2011 by Annalise · Leave a Comment

I am norwegian-american. (Maybe you guessed by my kids names… Bjørn & Haakon?)

Born and raised in America… but with norwegian blood.

We have family, and close friends living over there. And quite obviously… the tragedy in Oslo & Utoya - just one week ago - absolutely broke my heart.

Norway is such a peaceful country. A beautiful place full of mountains and fjørds and amazing people and wonderful food.

Not the kind of place you would expect a bombing and horrible shooting-spree to occur.

(Do we ever really expect that kind of tragedy?? But for some reason it shocks me more in Norway than even here on American soil!)

So, with Norway even more on my heart than usual this past week… I have often caught myself daydreaming of my favorite norwegian treats!

My heart is so full of love for that country and especially its people, and food is, well… a tangible expression of that love.

This little treat has been on my mind several times this week. If you familiar at all with Norway or Scandinavia, you have likely heard about/seen/tasted smørrebrød - norwegian open-faced sandwiches.

Usually spread with butter and topped with good things like brown gjetost (goat’s cheese) and jam, or shrimp salad and cucumber, and almost always beautiful… they are a staple at every norwegian table.

(photo credit to come - when I can find it!)

My favorite is a simple butter, cheese, cucumber sandwich on dense norwegian bread (sometimes with a thin slice of meat and hard-boiled egg). I could eat this every morning and night of my life and not grow tired of it!

But lately I have been changing things up a bit and turn them into little almost-bite-sized snacks… hearty crackers - topped with my favorite smørrebrød toppings!

(smørrebrød literally means “butter bread”. Now doesn’t that just sound good?) ;o)

Norwegian Open-Faced Sandwich Crackers Recipe

Ingredients:
Triscuits (shredded-wheat crackers), or some other hearty cracker
sliced cheese (your choice! cheddar, jarlsberg, swiss, jack)
sliced english cucumbers
garnishes (mayo, mustard, red pepper flakes, etc.)

Directions:
Layer each cracker with a slice of cheese and a slice of cucumber. Top with a bit of crushed red pepper if you’d like, and a sprinkle of salt if you are not using salty Triscuits!

I like to put a slice of hard-boiled egg and a tiny dab of mayo or mustard on top sometimes!

Yummm…

—

Join me in continuing to keep the people of Norway and those who love her in your prayers as they heal through this tragedy, won’t you?

Filed Under: ramblings, recipes, recipes - appetizers, recipes - kids, recipes - snacks ·

raspberry rhubarb crumble

07/28/2011 by Annalise · 1 Comment

I think we’ve reached the end of rhubarb season around here… and that makes me incredibly sad.

My rhubarb plants got choked out by weeds this year (I know, I know…) and I never got around to buying our local grocery’s 15lb bag to stock my freezer… so I am now out of luck until next year.

I must say, though… this crisp was the perfect way to send the season out with a bang!

Rhubarb perfectly balanced with raspberries (fresh or frozen work fine here!) and a sweet buttery crumble topping.

I keep my crumbles pretty tart, because I like to serve them warm with ice cream. If you don’t want to serve yours with ice cream, feel free to up the sugar a bit in the fruit mixture!

Raspberry Rhubarb Crumble Recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups raspberries (about 1 1/2 pints)
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

In a large bowl, gently toss together the raspberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch & lemon juice. Dump into a 9×13″ baking dish.

In another large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, oats, spices & salt. Mix in the butter with a fork, or your hands, until everything is moistened.

Sprinkle the topping mixture in clumps evenly over the fruit in the baking dish. Bake for 1 hour, or until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Serve with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream!

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - desserts ·

slow cooker buffalo chicken sandwiches

07/25/2011 by Annalise · Leave a Comment

This recipe was born more out of necessity than creativity… but it turned out to be so good I just had to share!

I love using my crockpot. SO much. But since I haven’t been able to eat any form of tomato or citrus for the last 7+ months, my creativity is quite hindered.

I had some chicken thighs in the freezer that wanted to be slow-cooked on this cold-dreary-is-it-really-still-summer?-day.

My usual go to chicken - in the crockpot with a container of salsa dumped over it - is not on the ‘ok’ list right now, but I saw a bottle of Frank’s Buffalo Sauce in my cupboard, did a quick check (nope, no tomatoes!!) and dumped that on instead!

The house smelled amazing all day (if you like buffalo wings like we do, I guess!) and tasted even better!

I used bone-in, skin-on thighs… because that’s what I had in the freezer. Use whatever you’d like!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches Recipe

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts
3/4 bottle of Frank’s Buffalo Sauce

Directions:
Place the chicken in the crockpot. Dump the buffalo sauce over to coat.

Turn slow cooker on HIGH & cook for 4-6 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and falling apart.

Take the chicken pieces out of the slow cooker, remove skin and bones if there are any, shred the meat and return to the sauce.

Toast french or ciabatta rolls that you have cut in half, until golden. Pile on the shredded chicken/sauce mixture and enjoy!

(Top with an additional drizzle of sauce leftover from the bottle if you’d like it saucier/spicier!)

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - crockpot, recipes - dinner, recipes - make ahead, recipes - slow cooker ·

not-so Green Smoothie

07/24/2011 by Annalise · Leave a Comment

We all know we need to eat more greens right?

Dark, leafy greens… as in a big salad. But really, how often can we (and do we?!) eat big green salads, especially without dousing them in not-so-good-for-us salad dressing?!

Well, here’s the solution… Green smoothies!

Yep, I said green smoothies. I know, I know… green is not the most appetizing color of a beverage, and in fact this smoothie is not even ‘green’… but I am talking more about the philosophy of this smoothie than of the actual color.

Green smoothies are about upping your daily intake of dark leafy greens. All it takes is some greens (anything really… the darker the better!) and some fruit! Simple, right?

This smoothie is a mixture of banana, frozen berries, mixed greens/spinach & a bit of ice and water to thin it out. That’s it!

It’s really more of a method than a recipe…

Throw some fruit in a blender, add in as much ‘greens’ as you can fit, blend until smooth, add in a bit more fruit, water or juice if the greens are too strong and enjoy a healthier you. That’s it!

The bonus: My two-year old and 7-month-old both LOVE these smoothies! (As do I! Although I can’t seem to get my husband or 9-year old to try them!)

We try to ‘green smoothie’ as close to every day as we possibly can!

Green Smoothie Recipe #1 (berry)

Ingredients:
1 banana
2 big handfuls or more mixed greens/spinach
1-1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries
1/2-1 cup water

Directions:
Blend until as smooth as you’d like… using more or less water to get the consistency you want!

or try this one:

Green Smoothie Recipe #2 (tropical)

Ingredients:

1 banana

2 big handfuls or more mixed greens/spinach

1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh pineapple chunks

1/2 cup mango or other tropical fruit nectar or puree