Thai Lime Coconut Rice

I have a recipe book that is about cooking  your way around the world. I absolutely LOVE the section on Thailand. I have been making this coconut rice for years, just plain. The other day I was thinking how much I love coconut and lime together and decided to try it out on this rice. I'm so thankful I did, as it was a great combination. I also added a touch more sugar than I usually do and that was a good change also. Then I saw on Pinterest about adding all these goodies to coconut rice. So guess what I did? Yep...I added goodies. Oh my goodness, I want to eat this every day of my life! I even ate a bite cold out of the refrigerator today for leftovers. That's how good this was!!

1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
1/2 lime, juiced
1 cup water
1 cup Jasmine Rice
2 1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup honey roasted, or cocktail peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup toasted, shredded coconut

1. Turn the oven on to 350. Pour the coconut out onto a cookie sheet and make sure it's in a single layer. When oven is hot, place the cookie sheet in the oven. Set the timer for4 minutes and check to see if the coconut is golden and toasted. If it isn't, then set the timer for 1-2 minutes and check it again. Repeat this process until your coconut is toasted and golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, lime juice and water. Bring to a boil. Add the rice, sugar and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. This can take from 20-40 minutes.

3. Serve rice with the garnishes: Toasted coconut, cilantro, peanuts and extra lime if you wish!

Brown Rice Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing

As I sit here trying to type up some story or something interesting to put here, I realize my mind is blank. I am plagued with a dreaded annual sinus infection. Last year in July, the night before I was due to fly home from my vacation to Portland, I got hit with the worst sinus infection of my life. Thankfully, Kaiser was able to get me a prescription and I thought I would be ok on the flight home. Well....everything was fine until the plane started it's descent. Oh my goodness, I thought my head was going to explode from all the pressure. Trust me when I say I would rather give birth to another child, before ever doing that again. So you are probably wondering why I would pick that story to tell you. WELL...guess who is leaving again for Portland soon and guess who has another sinus infection? Me..that's right. Let's hope this time, I get rid of this bad boy BEFORE my flight. No more head exploding episodes this year! Oh yeah...so back to this salad. I wasn't feeling so well, so I decided to whip up this super easy salad. So glad I did, because it takes hardly any cooking, just slicing, dicing, stirring and cooking rice...yep that's it! In fact, I think this is what I will have today for leftover lunch. Yummy...I can't wait!

Recipe Adapted From: 
http://thecozyapron.com/cozy-cameo-asian-style-brown-rice-salad-a-salad-for-modern-times/



For the Salad:
4 cups brown rice, cooked and cooled
1 cup edamame 
1 carrot, grated, or thinly sliced
1 cup brocccoli, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

For the Dressing: 
 1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup canola oil

For the top of the salad:
Juice of 1 whole orange
Toasted sesame seeds


To prepare the salad: 
In a large bowl, place the cooled brown rice, edamame, carrot, broccoli, bell pepper, cilantro,green onion and sesame seeds. Toss to mix. Set aside.

To prepare the dressing:
In  a small bowl, stir together all the dressing ingredients. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Pour over rice salad. Toss to coat. When ready to serve, squeeze the juice of one orange over the salad and toss again. Sprinkle the top with toasted sesame seeds. Serve cold.

Loaded Brown Rice and Chili Beans

I am pretty sure that this dish has all my favorite ingredients. Ok...so it doesn't have chocolate! As I was gathering fixins to make dinner tonight, I was struck by a thought. Why not put all of the great things I can find in my kitchen together to make a wonderful side dish? I'm so glad the thought evolved as this dish turned out to be scrumptious. I may have just created my new favorite brown rice side dish. If you love brown rice, chili beans, olives, jalapenos, onions and cilantro, then you will love this! Next time I might even add some diced tomatoes. I guess you can add just about anything you like that goes with this. Enjoy!!

1 cup brown rice, uncooked
3 cups water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 (16 oz) can chili beans in mild sauce (do not drain)
2 oz diced jalapenos
4 oz sliced olives, drained

1 med onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste

Bring 3 cups water and olive oil to a boil. Add the brown rice. Cover with a lid and put the fire on very low and leave it for 45 min.

While the rice is cooking, saute  your onion in olive oil over low heat until golden brown and tender.
Get all your other ingredients ready.

After the rice is done cooking, add in the sauteed onion and all the other ingredients except  the cilantro. Stir to mix together. Reheat on low flame until everything is heated through. This shouldn't take but just a couple of minutes. Take off the fire and stir in chopped cilantro. Salt it to taste and serve!

Chicken and Brown Rice Bowl with Lime Dressing

After dinner tonight, my grand daughter was playing with her "poppa", and pouring him imaginary tea out of a cute little pink teapot that makes the sweetest little noises.  Just watching them together, made my heart smile. God uses children in so many ways to teach us as adults how to forget about the cares of the world and just sit back and trust in Him. So while my heart was full from watching her play, my belly was just as full from the wonderful dinner we had just finished eating. My daughter helped me prepare this and we all loved it. Super healthy, quite easy to prepare and it definitely fills your belly!
This recipe makes 3 good size chicken bowls

1cup uncooked Brown Rice, cooked according to pkg directions
3 med to large or 4 small cooked and shredded chicken breasts (seasoned with salt and pepper)
Green onions, chopped
Cilantro chopped
Dry Roasted Peanuts
Carrots, shredded
Fresh limes

*Make the dressing according to directions below and set aside.
**Place cooked rice in a bowl. Top with shredded chicken.  Place whatever amount of green onions, cilantro, peanuts and carrots, as you would like, on the top of the rice. Squeeze a lot of fresh lime juice over this mixture. Top with the dressing.

For the Dressing: 
Juice from 5 limes
9 tsps olive oil
2 1/2 tsp sesame oil.
5 garlic cloves, chopped
Mix all dressing ingredients together in a bowl.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Do lime and cilantro make everything taste better? I think so! Well...ok, maybe not ice cream and some other things I can think of, but they sure made this rice taste fantastic. I'm a huge fan for taking a normal old side dish and "kicking it up a notch", especially without a bunch of extra work. I like the website that I got this recipe from. It's called skinnytaste.com and it's got some great low cal/low fat recipes on it. I really want to find this "Gina" girl that blogs that site and say "thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank  you" for this recipe. Other than my homemade coconut rice, I think this is my new fav!
* RECIPE NOTE: I used the juice of a whole lime for my recipe as I liked the "limier" (is that even a word? haha) taste

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup extra long grain rice or basmati rice
1/2 lime, juice of
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
3 tsp vegetable oil

In a small heavy pot,  rice, water, 1 tsp oil and salt. Follow normal cooking instructions on the bag of rice.
Meanwhile, In a medium bowl, combine chopped cilantro, lime juice, rice and remaining oil and toss until completely mixed.

Sausage, Rice and Vege Mix

Today our air conditioning went KAPOOT! It's over 100 degrees outside and it's now sweltering inside. Thank the Lord for ceiling fans. Now I just have to figure out how to install one in my kitchen, so it's not so hot while I'm cooking. I'm thinking pizza delivery just might work out fine this week! ;)
This was a very simple, no muss, no fuss kind of meal. I prepared it earlier in the day and then just quickly heated it up tonight when we were ready to eat.

 Then I made a nice Caprese salad to go on the side. It  was amazing considering that the tomatoes and the basil were picked fresh from my backyard garden today. Now I just need to learn how to make mozzarella. ;)

For the Sausage dinner:

• 8 ounces low-fat kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup water
• Hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste

1. Cook kielbasa in a large nonstick skillet over high heat, turning from time to time, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add oil to the pan. Add onions, zucchini, bell pepper, jalapenos, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt; cook, stirring, until the onions are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in rice, beans and water; cook, stirring, until heated through, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved kielbasa and season with hot sauce. Serve hot.

For Caprese Salad:

Slice fresh tomatoes and place a slice of fresh mozzarella on the top of each tomato slice. Top with fresh basil. Drizzle olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper.

Sushi Roll Rice Salad

Ok.....so I have an obsession with sushi. It's by far one of my favorite foods. This salad tastes just like a sushi roll, minus the fish. So for those of you that love the rice/wasabi/vege combo, this would be a great one to try.
This picture is minus the cucumber, since I didn't have any in the refrigerator. It will still be good, but not as good as if it had the cucumber in it. Also, you leave some of the green on the outside of the cucumber (kind of in stripes if that makes sense) and  it makes the salad sssooo pretty!

 *Here is the updated version with the cucumber added. My sweet hubby went to the store for me while he was out running errands! :)

3 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp wasabi paste (you can find this on the aisle at the grocery store with all the asian foods)
4 cups hot cooked rice, (I use brown for the healthiness of it, but you can use white)
3/4 cup carrot, julienned
3/4 cup cucumber, halved, seeded, and sliced into half moons
3/4 cup edamame, shelled, thawed
1/4 cup scallions, sliced
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk first 4 ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
Toss rice, carrots, cucumber, edamame, scallions and vinegar mixture together in a large bowl. Season with salt.
Garnish with sesame seeds.

Lemon Rice Pilaf

So just when I thought I would be done posting lemon recipes, I got a new bag of lemons from my sister in law Denise. I really didn't feel like baking any more lemon creations, so I decided to make this lemon rice pilaf. It really tasted great and the lemon added a new depth of taste to the rice.
* I think next time I make this, I will substitute chicken broth for most of the water when I cook my rice. That will add some great flavor!! 

2 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green onion
3 cups steamed rice
1 Tbsp lemon zest (grated lemon rind)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Cook your rice according to package directions. Set aside when done.
Melt butter in skillet. Add the celery and the onion and the green onion. Saute until tender. Stir in the rice, lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat approx 2-3 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.