Black Beans with Canadian Bacon over Rice (original version)

Okay, I'm going to post 2 versions of this recipe, the original and my simplified version. This is the original version straight from the Whole Foods Market website.

Garlic and jalapeno impart a lively zip while lean, tender Canadian bacon provides a meaty flavor to this spirited variation on black beans and rice. Perfect for slow cooking on the stove or in a crock pot. It's a hearty, protein-packed meal that makes delicious leftovers.

Serves 4

• 1 cup organic black beans

• 2 cups organic chicken broth

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 1 small green pepper, chopped

• 1/2 small red pepper, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 ounces Canadian bacon, diced

• 1 cup water

• sea salt, to taste

Soak beans overnight in water to cover. The next morning, discard the soaking liquid and rinse the beans.

For crock pot preparation:

Place beans and 2 cups chicken broth along with the bay leaves in a crock pot set on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Sauté green and red pepper, garlic, and jalapeno in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the sautéed vegetables to the beans along with the cumin, Canadian bacon and 1 cup of water. Continue to cook in crock pot on high heat, stirring occasionally for another 4 to 6 hours, adding extra water or stock, if needed. Season with salt prior to serving. Serve over rice (recipe below).

For stove top preparation:

Place beans and 2 cups broth with bay in a soup pot. Simmer beans, covered, for 1 hour, stirring often. Sauté green and red pepper, garlic, and jalapeno in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the sautéed vegetables to the beans along with the cumin, Canadian bacon and 1 cup of water. Continue to cook for another hour or until beans are completely tender, adding extra water or broth as necessary. Season with salt prior to serving. Serve over rice (recipe below).

Rice

• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion

• 1 TB butter

• 1 cup jasmine rice

• 2 cups water

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Sauté onion in the butter, stirring often for 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat for another minute. Add the water and the salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all water is absorbed.

Nutrition Info

Per Serving (8 oz-wt.): 250 calories (60 from fat), 6g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 5g dietary fiber, 8g protein, 39g carbohydrate, 10mg cholesterol, 540mg sodium

Black Beans with Canadian Bacon over Rice (my version)

This is the simplified, I- was- too- lazy- and- I- didn't- prepare- ahead- of- time- to- put- everything- in- the- crock-
pot version.

1. Meat:

I couldn't find canadian bacon without sodium nitrite in it, so I improvised by using the "carnitias" portion of the Carnitas Tacos, Pico de gallo, and Corn Tortillas recipe as follows:

• 3 lbs boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces (or buy pre-cut pork stew meat) **actually, I'm too lazy to even cut it up, I just shove the whole thing in the crock pot and go**.

• 3 large garlic cloves, minced

• 1–2 jalapeños, minced (optional)

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 2 TB olive oil

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice

• 1 cup chicken stock

Add all ingredients to the crock pot and cook pork tenderloin for at least 4 hours (longer for extra tenderness).
2. Rice:

• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion

• 1 TB butter

• 2 cup jasmine rice

• 5 cups water

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Sauté onion in the butter, stirring often for 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat for another minute. Add the water and the salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all water is absorbed. **or just throw saute'd onion with all other ingredients into rice cooker and cook per directions.**

3. Black beans:

• 1 can organic black beans (undrained)
  

• 2 T. organic chicken broth (more or less to desired consistency. You can skip this if the beans are already liquid enough)
  

• 1 small green pepper, chopped

• 1/2 small red pepper, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Sauté green and red pepper, garlic, and jalapeno in butter or coconut oil for 5 minutes. Add the sautéed vegetables to the beans along with the cumin. Warm ingredients in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally.


Serve all ingredients over the rice. Also delicious with pico de gallo, fresh avocado, and olives.

Carnitas Tacos, Pico de gallo, and Corn Tortillas

These delicious carnitas tacos call for pork flavored with garlic, cumin and jalapeño, which is then simmered in orange and lime juices until it is fall-apart tender. To recreate a Mexican roadside taco stand experience, serve with hand-made corn tortillas, fresh pico de gallo, crisp green cabbage, olives, and creamy fresh avocado.

Pico de Gallo **I always just use Mimi's pico de gallo**

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (optional)

• 2–3 TB fresh lime juice

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste

Prepare the Pico de Gallo:
combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Use any fresh, juicy tomatoes and adjust proportions to your own taste. Makes about 2 cups.

Carnitas

• 3 lbs boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces (or buy pre-cut pork stew meat)

• 3 large garlic cloves, minced

• 1–2 jalapeños, minced (optional)

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 2 TB olive oil

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice

• 1 cup chicken stock

Add all ingredients for the carnitas into a crock pot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. Pork will be fall-apart tender. Allow pork to cool and absorb the remaining juices. Shred meat with a fork.

Corn Tortillas **okay, I haven't actually ever made these, I just buy the corn tortillas pre-made and warm. But if you're feeling adventurous, these are the directions. **

• 11/2 cups masa harina (golden corn flour)

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 cup warm water

Make the Corn Tortillas:
Combine masa with salt. Pour in warm water and mix until dough holds together. You want a fairly dry dough, so adjust masa and water if needed. Knead dough for about one minute. Cover with a damp towel and let dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide dough ball into quarters. Divide each quarter into quarters again, making 16 total pieces. Roll each into a small ball.

Heat ungreased griddle. Take a ball of dough and flatten between two pieces of heavy plastic on a tortilla press or between two plates. (A heavy-duty freezer bag cut in half works well.) Peel off the plastic and cook the tortilla for about 45 to 60 seconds, until tortilla is easily loosened. Turn over and continue cooking for 30 seconds. Flip back over for about 10 seconds more. Remove to a plate, stacking tortillas on top of each other as you cook to retain heat, covering with a towel. Makes 16.

Nutrition Info

Per serving (6 oz-wt.): 350 calories (160 from fat), 18g total fat, 6g saturated fat, 0g dietary fiber, 41g protein, 3g carbohydrate, 110mg cholesterol, 330mg sodium

Southwestern chicken rolls

Cheesecake cups

Quick ice cream

Lasagna style bow tie pasta

Spicy sesame noodles with chicken

This was really good. The kids saw this had peanut butter and honey in it and now refer to this dish as PB&H noodles. It got rave reviews from the fam and is a definite do-over.

Stir fried pork

Teriyaki chicken with broccoli

Mashed sweet potatoes

2-3 medium sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
dash ground cloves
1/2 t. vanilla
2-4 T. coconut oil (can substitute butter)
1-2 T. agave nectar (optional)

Place sweet potatoes in enough water to cover potatoes plus 1 inch. Cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Turn off heat and drain. Place saucepan back on burner for 30 seconds more to dry potatoes.

Add remaining ingredients and mash until all ingredients are mixed well. Potatoes will be slightly lumpy.

Can be made ahead and frozen in sealed container.

Makes eight to ten 1/2 c. servings.

Herb roasted chicken

This is another recipe from the What's cookin' good lookin' series on the website What's in it for me? Check it out!

Ok, this chicken is awesome and quite easy if you own a large (whole-chicken size crock pot).

I prefer to use boneless chicken breasts and modified the recipe thus:

Half the ingredients:
3 cups water
1/4 C sea salt
etc.

1 and 1/2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts (or approximately 6 breasts)

1. I followed the directions for step one above (halving the ingredients in the first step). The longer you soak the chicken, the more AMAZINGLY TENDER the chicken is. I think I ended up (unintentionally) soaking for two days and it was like slicing into butter! Yum!

2. I'm all about the grill lately, so instead of using the crock pot, I combined the remaining spices, and substituted butter for olive oil. I mixed it around/rubbed it on the breasts. On medium heat, grill 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. What you get is an amazingly sweet, amazingly tender chicken breast. I couldn't get enough of it.

This chicken was delicious with mashed sweet potatoes.

**as a side note, the hubby liked it the first time, but the second time he confessed that it reminded him too much of fish (??! I hate fish just as much as he does, I don't see see fishiness in it). Ironically, this is one of my very favorites. Figures! What are ya gonna do? **