Jamaican Style Red Beans and Rice

I found this delicious-sounding Red Beans and Rice dish from Emeril Lagasse and decided it must be done. With some minor alterations. Okay, a LOT of alterations. But the deal remains the same; you'll need a good two and a half hours to make this, so get onnit early!

You will need:

8 oz dried kidney beans ( about 1 1/4 cups)
6 garlic cloves, chopped big. ly
3 cups cold water
946 ml chicken stock, unsalted and fat free (sounds DELISH, right??)
1 cup light coconut milk
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tsp salt
4-6 Thai chiles, or 1 giant Scotch Bonnet pepper (I don't even know what that is)
1/2 tsp ground all spice (about 10 seeds)
2 cups uncooked brown rice
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2)

Prep! You can do most of it while the beans start, so rinse them and throw in the pot with the garlic, water and chicken stock. Bring them to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Now do the rest!

Strip the thyme off the sprigs; save those stalks for your stock, yo! I lurrrrvvvvvee fresh thyme, I just wanna lick my fingers after.

Chop your onion, halve your chiles, cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces and um, open your canned coconut milk. After cutting the chicken, you may as well cover it and put it back in the fridge. You don't need it for awhile.

After the 30 minutes, add in the thyme and coconut milk, cover and cook for another 45 minutes to an hour.

So then it looks..thusly

Now dump in the onion, chiles, salt, butter, all spice and some pepper, stir and cover for three minutes.

Dump in rice! Stir well, bring to a boil, stir again, cover, let cook for five minutes then stir and cover again. Whew! Got all that? Awesome! High fives all around, go take a break, let that cook for 25.

Until it looks thusly. Ish

Now add in the chicken, stir well AGAIN, cover and let cook for 10 more minutes.

Now set it aside and don't look at it for 10 minutes. Eyes up here, soldier!

Give it ANOTHER good stir (we're gonna have wrestler forearms soon!), portion between 6 people at 359 calories per, that's not bad, right?? We could have a salad and a wee eensy bit of dressing and we'd be in around that 400 calorie range, woo hoo!

Enjoy!

I like walks on the beach, days that end in Y and sunsets and rainbows...

Sometime This Week: Shrimp Stir Fry

I feel like a good, basic stir fry recipe is important. It's a way to get a boatload of veggies on your plate with not a lot of calories and they are just so visually appealing.

 

 

This has shrimp as the protein but you could easily substitute chicken or beef, even tofu, if that is how you roll. 



 

You will need:

1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 c chicken stock (I am using no-salt added, but you could go with a vegetable stock also)
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
Tiny bit chili flakes (optional - even 1/4 tsp made it a little bit too spicy for kiddos)
2 tsp sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 c broccoli florets
1 carrot, sliced into coins
1yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 other pepper, green or red or both, cut into strips
3 green onions, sliced
400 g shrimp, whatever size you like (I went with jumbo, 26 pp)
2 c cooked brown rice

Not pictured: rice

First, lots of prep! Peel and cut your carrot into coins. Cut your broccoli into florets, slice your green onions into once-inch pieces. Slice your peppers into strips, peel your shrimp, mince your garlic and ginger.

Mix together the cornstarch and soy sauce in a medium-sized bowl, stirring until dissolved.

Stir in the broth, ginger and chili flakes (if using, I am telling you, spicy-city), set aside.

On to the frying! Heat the oil until it shimmers, add the garlic and cook, stirring until you can smell it - about 30 seconds.

Throw in the broccoli and carrot, cook for 3 minutes.

Add in the peppers and green onions, stir and cook for 3 more minutes.

Pour in the sauce, add in the shrimp and cook for 3 - 5 minutes until the shrimp is cooked and opaque and the sauce has thickened somewhat.

I separated this into 4 enormous portions at 329 each, including 1/2 c rice.

It was so pretty I had to take a picture mid-eating.

Enjoy!

Monday: Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake

This is a revamp of my BlackBean Enchilada Casserole; mainly because I have loads of chicken and even more peppers at this very moment. Although there are vegetables contained within (sounds cage-y), I'm gonna add a salad at suppertime anywho. This is so creamy and YUMMY, you gotta try it.

 

You will need:

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb chicken, boneless, skinless, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp chili powder, salt, pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, also chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces (are you sensing a theme?)
1 c brown rice, cooked
1 c light sour cream
1 tsp cumin (optional if you have a husband named Steve)
3 oz light cheese, grated (or purchased pre-shredded cause that is awesome), divided
4 large whole wheat whole grain tortillas / wraps
1 425ml jar enchilada sauce (Safeway!)

Prep! Chop your peppers and onion, slice up your chicken. Start pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Measure the rice and sour cream; spray a 10 x 18 pan with oil. Pour 1/4 c of the enchilada sauce into the pan, warm the rest in a pan on the stove. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a sauté pan, add in the cut up chicken and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-5 minutes, until the pink is mostly gone. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp chili powder at some point.

Add in the peppers and onion, cook for 3 more minutes until they are somewhat softened.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix the sour cream, rice, half of the cheese, the rest of the chili powder and the cumin.

Add the chicken mixture to the rice, stir to mix.

Start dredging the tortillas through the warmed enchilada sauce; laying two on the bottom of the pan.

Dump half of the chicken & rice on top, smooth the cover.

Dredge the remaining two tortillas, place and cover with the remainder of the chicken mixture. Drizzle on whatever is left of the enchilada sauce and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, should be a-bubbling. You're gonna want to let that stand for about 5 minutes before cutting into it. I know, make a salad!

I cut this into 6 servings, at 349 calories per. With said salad (did I suggest that often enough? because I can totally ramp that up), we will still be around the 400 - 500 calories suggested by Weight Wise. Yay for casseroles and ovens!

Enjoy!

Wednesday: Grilled Basa with Herbed Rice

My hubby wanted to get in on the action; he picked this meal. He probably won't get to eat it fresh, as he has been dragged back into shutdown, kicking and screaming, but I'm sure he will be there in spirit. The rice has so many layers of flavour and the fish is such a nice complement; this is a year-round winner fer sure. Dude.

You will need:

1 Tbsp butter (always unsalted, all the time)
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 celery stalk, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c brown rice
4 green onions
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
2 c chicken stock
1 tsp kosher salt
3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs basa fillets, or other white\redfish, like red snapper, flounder or sea bass
1 Tbsp creole or potlatch seasoning

Not pictured: garlic AGAIN!

First, prep your veggies. Chop your onions, mince your garlic and dice your celery. I love dicing celery (but then I am a bit strange) because it makes squares easily. So tidy. Tomatoes, not so much, but dice them too. Slice your green onions thinly and chop your parsley.

Because I am using brown rice, I am going to do a quick par / pre boil on it. Rinse your rice, then bring to a boil with two cups of cold water. Cover it, cook for five minutes and turn off. Let sit.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, melt the butter in a large-ish saucepan. Add the celery and onion, cook until almost softened, about 2 minutes. Add in the garlic, cook for one more minute. Just one!

Drain your rice, if required, and stir in the rice, green onions, tomatoes and parsley. Ccook for two more minutes. Stir alla time.

Pour in the chicken stock, the salt and bay leaves, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is all absorbed, 20-25 minutes. Let sit while you do the fish.

Oil up your fish and your grill, sprinkle on the seasoning. Warm up the barbecue. I am using the potlatch mixture from Williams Sonoma because I love it so, but a creole seasoning or anything like that would work.

Grill 3 to 5 minutes per side at medium high heat, these suckers are pretty thin. There are a couple of different ways to check fish, sticking a knife in the centre for 10 seconds to see if it becomes warm is one, looking for flaking is another, waiting 5 minutes per side is another yet. Whatever floats your boat, sailor. My husband favours the I'm-tired-of-looking-at-it approach.

I separated this into 8 servings and came up with 207 calories per. Either a good salad, with maybe some goat cheese or nuts, or some veggies would put us within range of our 400-500 calorie per meal goal. Maybe wine! We could totally add a glass of wine! Maybe even a glass of Pinot Grigio! Why doesn't everyone leave your favourite wines in the comments?

Enjoy!