Grilled Lime-Pepper Chicken and Rice

Floyd Cardoz's Flavorwallla boasts recipes with big flavour and bold spices. This is one example of how this offer can be satisfied with little effort. Seven ingredients. Surprisingly flavourful. I've included a simple baked basmati recipe that works every time. Add steamed green beans or a green salad, and dinner is ready.

Grilled Lime-Pepper Chicken

6-8 boned chicken thighs
6 tbsp canola oil
5 tbsp lime juice (approximately 4 juiced limes)
12 garlic cloves, chopped
1 4-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp black peppercorns

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a blender or bullet and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a ziplock bag with chicken and marinade for 6-24 hours. Bring chicken to room temperature then grill until browned.

Simplest Basmati

1 c basmati rice
oil
1 3/4 c water
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Saute rice in oil until some grains are translucent. Add water and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and bake for 17 minutes. Fluff with fork before serving. Can add in toasted pine nuts and/or herbs or other extras prior to serving. Perfect every time.

Best Crumble Ever!

I don't even like blueberries and this is the best crumble I've ever had. Ian Knauer calls it a crunch not a crumble and maybe that is the reason. This topping is crunchy and cookie-like and goes well with vanilla ice cream. The recipe comes from Knauer's grandmother by way of his Aunt Janet, and is published in his fabulous book The Farm. If you don't have that book yet, you should order it now. Enjoy!

Blueberry Belle Crunch
Serves 6 to 8

12 ounces blueberries*
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate or an 8-inch square pan - ideally glass.
Toss the blueberries with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer to the pie plate or pan.
Stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend in the butter with your hands until well combined. Crumble the topping over the berries in large clumps.
Bake until the berries are bubbling and the crunch is set and browned in places, 25 to 35 minutes. Let the crunch cool slightly before serving with vanilla ice cream.

*I've also used the Costco frozen mixed berries in a pinch - just put 12 ounces in a colander, run cold water over, and let drain well before using.

Cinnamon Iced Coffee

When the weather is warm and you work at home, it's nice to have a cool "treat" beverage at the ready at all times. This coffee is easy to make and it's wonderful. I like it over ice with soy milk. The original recipe calls for cream, but I think it would also be nice with coconut or almond milk. It's strong, so the ice and milk or cream are key. The original recipe comes from Sunday Suppers by Karen Mordechai.

Cinnamon Iced Coffee

1/2 c coffee beans, medium coarsely ground
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 c boiling water
1 cinnamon stick

Put beans and cinnamon in a french press coffee maker, add water, stir, cover, and steep for 4 minutes. Plunge, transfer to a pitcher, add cinnamon stick, cool, and refrigerate until needed.

Refrigerator Radish Pickles

It's official. I'm addicted to these pickles! And the best part is that they are ready after only 2 days (and will keep in the refrigerator for 6 months, although there is zero chance any last that long here). I found the recipe in the fabulous Ian Knauer's cookbook - The Farm, but it is online in a variety of places including on the Boston Globe website. Quick, run to the nearest farmer's market for some radishes while they're available! We picked ours up on Canal Road in the Holland Marsh.




Refrigerator Radish Pickles

1 lg bunch radishes, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces (about 10 ounces)
4 1/2 tsps kosher salt
1 c white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 jalapeno, pierced all over with a paring knife

Toss radishes with 1 tbsp of the salt and let sit in a colander in the sink for an hour. Rinse well, dry with a towel, and transfer to a pint container, along with the jalapeño.
In the meantime, heat vinegar with sugar and remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt in a small saucepan until sugar dissolves.
Pour vinegar over radishes, cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 2 days if you can wait that long. 

Weeknight Tortilla Soup

We are reviewing Sunday Suppers by Karen Mordechai this month. This recipe was an immediate family fave. You do need to set aside about 2 hours for prep and cooking, but then you have a simple, tasty soup on top of which everyone can sprinkle or crumble their favourite toppings. I've listed our favourite toppings but feel free to ad-lib! We like to serve this with Hugh's caesar salad. And always a margarita for Mom. 

Tortilla Soup

3 tbsp canola or grapeseed oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 poblano chili (or 1-2 green bell peppers and one jalapeño), chopped
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/4 c chopped cilantro 
32 oz can crushed tomatoes 
64 oz chicken stock

Toppings:
diced avocado
crumbled tortilla chips
chopped green onions and cilantro
crumbled feta
diced jalapeno

In heavy saucepan heat oil over high heat. Add onion, garlic, chili or peppers, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and saute 2 minutes. Add lime juice, cumin, paprika, coriander, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, over halfway, and cook stirring intermittently for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove bay leaves and puree with immersion blender.
Serve soup in bowls with toppings.

Honey-Sesame Dressing (and a salad to go with it)

The other day I was looking for a recipe for a salad that had oranges in it. I came across this one on the Vegetarian Times website. It is a great salad, but what I liked most about it was the wonderfully tasty and easy to prepare dressing. It is versatile - I used some on a quinoa bowl the next day - and it really captures the flavour of the dressing at our favourite Japanese restaurants. I've changed two things from the original recipe. I changed the oil from vegetable to canola, but you are welcome to use any light oil you have on hand. (That's another great thing about this recipe. It uses ingredients I pretty much always have in the house.) I also suggest cutting up rather than sectioning the oranges. I like small juicy chunks of orange in a salad as opposed to what can often be rather ugly sections. The best way to cut the oranges in my view is to slice off the peel as close to the orange as possible on all sides, then cut the orange into chunks.

Spinach and Orange Salad with Almonds and Honey-Sesame Dressing

¼ c slivered almonds, toasted
5 oz baby spinach (6 cups)
2 large oranges, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tbsp sesame seeds

¼ c honey
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp dark sesame oil

Arrange spinach on a platter. Top with orange sections and almonds.

Blend honey, vinegar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes in food processor. Pour in canola oil and sesame oils, and blend until smooth. Drizzle 1/4 cup Honey-Sesame Dressing over salad, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Genius Baked Brown Rice

I'm so glad that our cookbook book club reviewed Food 52's Genius Recipes. This book contains many of what have become go-to recipes in our house. So I don't lose track of this one amidst the ever-expanding sea of cookbooks at my house, I'm adding it to the blog. This technique for cooking brown rice is easy and works every time. The best thing about it is that you do not have to pay it any attention, so you can get on with overseeing homework, socializing with guests, or preparing other parts of the meal.

Baked Brown Rice

1 1/2 c medium or short grained brown rice
2 1/2 c water
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375F.
Pour rice into an 8 inch square glass baking dish.
Bring water, butter, and salt to a boil in a covered saucepan. Pour it over the rice, stir, and cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 1 hour. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and serve.

Serves 4-6.