Baked Brown Rice

Baked Brown Rice
From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

1 1/2 c. brown rice
2 1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the ingredients in a 3-quart baking pan or casserole dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before removing the foil and fluffing with a fork. Enjoy!

Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas

These are just GOOD. Definitely have a kick to them, which obviously you can adjust by reducing the red pepper flakes/cayenne:

Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas
Adapted from www.macheesmo.com

Ingredients

• 1 pound cleaned shrimp
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Teaspoons hot paprika
• 2 Teaspoons cumin
• 1 Teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 Tablespoons lime or lemon juice (sometimes I use a combination, which I prefer - otherwise, I usually do straight lemon)
• 16 ounces cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella, but mozzarella alone also works well)
• 1/4 red onion, sliced (sometimes I sub in some grilled (white) onions - have also added chopped green onions)
• 8 large tortillas

Directions

1. Add defrosted shrimp to a bowl with all your spices along with lime/lemon juice, and olive oil.
2. Let this sit for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and slice the red onion.
3. Once your shrimp have been marinating for a few minutes, add them to a pan over medium-high heat.
4. Once they are cooked through give them a chop on a cutting board. I sometimes skip this step if it's just my husband and me eating - we don't mind the larger shrimp in our food. 
5. Once your shrimp are cooked and chopped, lay out some tortillas on a baking sheet, add some cheese, add your shrimp and onions, and then top with a bit more cheese.
6. Add the top tortilla and cook these for about 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Then take out your baking sheet and carefully flip each quesadilla with a spatula.
7. Return them to the oven for another 5-6 minutes and then they should be ready to serve!

**I also sometimes skip the 6th step, by just folding one tortilla over onto itself, and having the fillings inside. Then, there's no need to flip halfway through, but it does sometimes make the end product look a bit messier - so for company, I prefer the original method. 

French Vanilla Crepes - with hidden Flaxseed, Wheat Germ, and 3 Different Flours!

Even the pickiest of picky eaters can't resist a good crepe - filled with nutellas, strawberries, cream, or whatever strikes their picky fancy. I started with a basic recipe from www.allrecipes.com, and then modified it over time to try to get some better ingredients into my preschooler's skinny, picky body. This is the one breakfast item she will reliably eat!

French Vanilla Crepes

Makes @10 crepes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp ground flaxseed meal
3 eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp melted butter
**for the whole wheat and almond flours, as well as the ground flaxseed meal, I use Bob's Red Mill organic products, which I can find in the Greenwise sections of my local Publix


1. Combine flours, sugar, salt, cinnamon, wheat germ, and flaxseed meal. Set aside.
2.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs and milk with a mixer. Add vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until smooth. Add melted butter, and stir.
3. Heat a lightly oiled pan over low-medium heat. Add approximately 2 Tbsp of batter and rotate pan to spread it thinly. Brown on both sides, and add your choice of delicious fillings! Stir the batter between crepes, to keep the ingredients from sinking to the bottom. This also keeps the last few crepes from getting too heavy (the butter congeals a bit and rises in the batter.)

This works well with nutella, raw chopped fruits, sauteed apples, jams, and very well with some Reddi-Whip!

Indian Stir Fried Shrimp

This is a recipe I adapted from www.allrecipes.com, years ago - it's in our monthly rotation, and I love that I can pull it together fast!


Indian Stir-Fried Shrimp (Bhagari Jhinga) 


PREP TIME 20 Min 
COOK TIME 10 Min 
READY IN 30 Min 
Original recipe yield: 4 servings 

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon white sugar 
1 teaspoon garam masala 
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper 
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro 
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
1 cup coconut milk 
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
3 cloves garlic, minced 
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp - peeled and deveined 
1 tablespoon cornstarch 
1 tablespoon cold water

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, stir together tomato paste, salt, sugar, garam masala, ground cumin seed, ground red pepper, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, lemon juice, and coconut milk. Set coconut sauce aside. 
Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry onions until tender, then remove and set aside in a separate bowl. When oil is hot, add garlic, and cook until it begins to brown. Add shrimp, and cook until shrimp is opaque; this should take only a minute or two. Pour the coconut sauce over the shrimp; cook until the sauce begins to simmer. Add onions to wok. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water; stir into the sauce, and continue cooking until thick. 


MODIFICATIONS: I've added up to a teaspoon of red pepper at times, because we like our food spicy! But it's just as good with less red pepper. Served over basmati rice.

Black Bean, Chicken, and Brown Rice Casserole

I literally am going to finish the entire pan of this, by myself, in less than 36 hours. This also makes a fantastic burrito filling, if you throw in some salsa and sour cream! Am still confused why the Picky Pickersons won't eat it, but I should just learn to accept such things . . .

I originally found this on Pinterest, linking to www.sixsistersstuff.com - they in turn had gotten it from Allrecipes, which I looove for all its wonderfully helpful reviews. I made some modifications to the recipe based on those reviews:

Black Bean, Chicken, and Brown Rice Casserole
Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 1/4 cups chicken stock (chicken or vegetable broth will also work)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 pack chicken tenderloins, cooked and chopped (mine was about .8 lbs)
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt to taste
• ground cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1 (10 oz) can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1-2 cups shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese - depending on how much cheese you like 

Directions:


Mix the rice and chicken stock in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer  45 minutes, or until rice is tender.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large 9x13" casserole dish. Actually, I forgot to grease it, and nothing happened! 


Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion until tender. Mix in the zucchini, chicken, and mushrooms. Season with cumin, salt, and ground cayenne pepper (I seasoned liberally, esp. with the cayenne!). Cook and stir until zucchini is lightly browned and chicken is heated through.


In large bowl, mix the cooked rice, onion, zucchini, chicken, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, chiles, and 1/2 the cheese. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.


Cover casserole loosely with foil, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover, and continue baking 10 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned. 

**I had meant to drain the tomatoes, but forgot, and am happy that I didn't - it gave a nice kick to the dish! 

Jalebis - Pakistan's Answer to the Funnel Cake!

Kind of? That's how I sold it to my daughter's preschool, and the kids bought it ;) Like soft-crunchy, orangey, pretzel-shaped funnel cakes. I was presenting at Fun Friday at her school last week - every Friday they learn about a different country, and I went in to teach them about Pakistan, complete with goodie bags, Pakistani decor and jewelry, and of course, Pakistani sweets. I took in mango juice since my people looooove their mangoes, and tried my hand at making Jalebis, which I was ridiculously proud to manage! Am still bragging to my mom about it, trying to slip it into casual conversation: "The girls are cranky today . . .maybe I can make some more jalebis." Although my mother is perfectly aware that neither of my picky pickersons ate them. But, she's my mom, so she then launches into an appropriately gratifying string of praise. 


Jalebis (cobbled together multiple recipes found on the web):

All-Purpose Flour – 1 cup

Cardamom Powder – 1/8 tsp

Instant Yeast – 1 tsp

Cornstarch – 2 tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Yogurt – 1 Tbsp

Warm Water – 3/4 cup

For Syrup:

Sugar – 1 1/4 cups

Water – 1 cup

Saffron – pinch

Lemon Juice – 1 tsp

Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, add Flour, Cardamom Powder, Instant Yeast and Cornstarch. Mix thoroughly.

2. Add Oil, Yogurt and Water and mix well until there are no lumps.

3. In a larger bowl or pot, add very warm water and place the mixing bowl with the batter inside the larger bowl (be sure that the water does not fall into the batter). Cover the larger bowl and allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes.

4. After the batter has been resting for 15 minutes, start on the syrup and start to pre-heat oil for frying the jalebi.

5. Syrup: In a heavy bottom pan, add Water, Sugar and Saffron. Cook for 15 minutes on medium heat.

6. Reduce flame to a low simmer and add Cardamom Powder and Lemon Juice. Mix.

7. Mix the fermented jalebi batter well and put it in a ketchup or mustard bottle with a spout.**

8. Squeeze out the batter into the hot oil in approximately 8 small circular motions. Jalebi should about 2-3 inches in diameter.

9. Fry until the bottom side looks golden and flip once to cook the other side.

10. With tongs, remove jalebi, shake off excess oil and place directly into sugar syrup.

11. Allow jalebi to remain in the syrup for just about 15 seconds (flipping to coat both sides), shake off excess sugar syrup and place onto a plate lined with paper towels.

12. Continue frying remaining jalebis.

13. Enjoy them hot for optimal taste or allow them to cool and store in a container with a tight fitting lid. Jalebis will remain fresh for 4-5 days unrefrigerated.

NOTE: About mid way through the frying process, turn off the stove for the sugar syrup so that it does not become too thick.

**I had a hard time getting the thick batter into the ketchup bottle using a funnel - it was too thick. I ended up putting it into a ziploc bag, cutting a corner, and then piping it into the ketchup bottle. By ketchup bottle I mean the red ones at restaurants, with the thin spout - I had some leftover from making and storing paints, and had purchased them from Wal-Mart. 

Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs and Grape Tomatoes

I love this addictive dish - it's a non-saucy Italian dish, but with great flavor. Definitely nice for dinner parties, since it sets itself apart from the typical lasagna/ziti dishes.

Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/orecchiette-with-mini-chicken-meatballs-recipe/index.html)

Ingredients
1 pound orecchiette pasta
1/4 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
4 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
12 ounces bocconcini mozzarella, halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I left this out this time, since my daughter currently has an uncontrollable fear of all things green)

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, garlic powder, and the salt and pepper. Add the chicken and gently stir to combine.
Using a teaspoon measure, form the chicken mixture into 3/4-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll the chicken pieces into mini meatballs. Should make around 50 mini meatballs.
In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft and meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl and add the Parmesan. Toss to lightly coat orecchiette, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Add the meatball mixture, mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup of the basil. Gently toss to combine. Garnish with the chopped basil.