canela's kitchen

Quinoa with Black Beans & Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. Fresh lime juice

• 2tsp. Unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 1 Tbs. Olive oil

• 1tsp. Sugar

• 1 cup Quinoa

• 1 15oz. can of black beans, rinsed and drained

• 2 medium tomatoes, diced

• 4 scallions, chopped

• 1/4c. fresh cilantro

• 1/4 tsp. Pepper

•  Sea salt

Directions:

Whisk together first four ingredients plus 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 pepper in a small bowl. Set aside. Cook quinoa according to package directions: 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water, cook about 10 minutes. Add black beans, tomatoes, scallions, and lime juice to the quinoa. Cover with lid and cook for additional 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Parmesan Mushroom Risotto

Risotto has always had the reputation of being a high maintenance food. But really all it takes in 30 minutes of tender, love, care to create this silky decadence. The trick with risotto is to add your liquids a cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the flavorful stock before adding more.  I can’t wait for you to try this one- the parmesan cheese really adds a beautiful smokiness to this creamy dream.

Helpful Hint: I sometimes find myself in the habit of preparing a new dish by going along with the recipe before reading it all the way through. Most times its okay to get away with but in this case, I strongly encourage you to read the directions all the way through before getting started.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of vegetable stock

• 1½ cups arborio rice

• ½ cup dry white wine (or white cooking wine)

• 1 medium shallot, chopped (about ½ cup)

• 3 tablespoons of butter, unsalted

• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• Sea salt and pepper, to taste

•  

• 1 10 oz package of Baby Portobella Mushrooms, sliced thin

Directions:

Using a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat your oil over medium heat.

Add the chopped shallot, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring until shallots are slightly clear.

Add mushrooms to the pan, and saute 2-3 minutes as they shrink in size.

Add the rice to the heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir it quickly with a wooden spoon until all of the rice is well coated.

Be careful not to let the rice get brown, cook for another minute or so, until the rice smells slightly nutty.

Add the wine, and continue to stir and cook until the rice completely absorbs the liquid.

Add a 1/2 cup of stock to the rice and stir continuously until the liquid is fully absorbed.

Add another 1/2 of stock and repeat the process.

It’s very important to keep stirring the rice while cooking, especially while the stock gets absorbed, to insure the proper texture of the risotto.

1/2 cup at a time, keep adding hot stock and stirring the rice until the liquid is absorbed. As it cooks, the rice will become creamy as the starches begin to escape.

Stir in the butter, parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt & pepper.

Garnish with additional parmesan cheese if desired, but trust me… it won’t be necessary. :)

Classic Red Beans & Rice

If you’re like me, you never plan far enough ahead to soak beans overnight. This recipe has a quick soak technique that will give you a similar effect to overnight soaking.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of dried red kidney beans

• 1/2 pound of bacon, chopped

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 1 green bell pepper, chopped

• 1 large stalk of celery, chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste, optional

• 1 teaspoon dried basil

• 2 bay leaves

• 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

• 1 package (14 oz.) GF smoked sausage or andouille sausage, sliced (check label for wheat & grain)

• 2 quarts of water

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, optional

• Kosher salt to taste, if needed – BUT ONLY AT THE END!

• Cooked brown rice

• Hot sauce, for table

Directions

Rinse beans and place in a deep pot, adding enough water to cover beans with an extra inch or two. Do NOT add salt to the water! Leave pot uncovered, bring to a boil and leave boiling for 5 minutes. Turn off heat & remove from the fire. Cover and let soak for 1 hour. Drain and set aside in the same pot.

While beans are soaking, use a large, heavy pan to cook the bacon in. Remove from pan and set aside to drain on a paper towel. Add onion, bell pepper, celery & garlic to the pan with bacon grease. Add black pepper, cayenne pepper & basil to vegetables and stir until well distributed. Crumble bacon and add to the vegetables to reheat. Add sausage to the pot and cook thoroughly. Add sausage, vegetables & bacon to the pot with the beans. Add 2 quarts of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until beans are tender & slightly thickened. About 10 minutes before beans are done, add half stick of butter.

If beans need to be thickened more, remove 1 cup of beans and mash them with a fork, then put them back in the pot. Add salt if necessary. Serve over hot, cooked brown rice.